Louie Short

Add Date: November 16

Artist: Louie Short

Album: omw 4ev

Label: 444%

Genre: Singer/Songwriter 

Comments: From the promoter: "“The genre is songs,” is a direct quote from Louie Short. It does well to represent both his approach and his sense of humour. After all this is an artist whose previous bio stated: “He’s not not trying to be Carole King.” The point is, Louie’s a songwriter, and a real good one. He established that much with the release of 2019’s Cherry, Cherry.

Now the Toronto / Los Angeles artist prepares to release his sophomore record, Omw 4ev on 444%. And it’s a doozie. Louie serves as the sole architect of the project, polishing his DIY instincts from songwriting through mix. The record conjures elements that range from Tobias Jessso Jr. to Gram Parsons. Warmth, charm and honesty.

This is supposed to be a bio for Louie, but when it comes to expressing the narrative of the project, we couldn’t find anyone to craft anything more resonant than the man himself. Here’s Louie on Omw 4ev:

People are drawn to beginnings and endings, whether it be falling in love and breaking up - emerging artists and artists passing away. Things in the middle of life tend to be neglected. I think that this forgotten middle space is exciting and uncharted. It holds a certain poignancy because it doesn’t have the manipulative magnetism of creation and destruction, birth and death, to grab your attention. It just has itself existing.

“It’s about real love that you work for,” Louie says. We call a lot of songs love songs, but often they aren’t really love songs; they're infatuation songs. They feature love that is obsessively beginning or tragically ending while claiming foreverness, but beginnings and endings don't last forever.

Forever is in the middle of things. In those parts of life and love where you are just participating in a process.

So in a world where you’re either coming or going, I wanted to celebrate the part where you are on your way. forever!”

First single “What Can I Do” has a journey of its own. The song was written by Louie’s father Michael Short and an artist named BJ Cook in late 70s Toronto.

“They recorded the demo at the (now demolished) RCA Victor studio in Toronto with the intent of selling it, possibly through Bj's ex-husband, David Foster,” Louie recounts. “Nothing came of it and the tape disappeared. 40 years later, in the process of clearing out the old studio, an engineer who had always liked the recording digitized and emailed it to BJ and my dad. He showed it to me and here we are now with my version..”

The story offers a relevant parallel to Louie Short music. Quirky, genre-bending songs that seem as if from the past, and yet never existed before now. Music that is classic but new, worth being in the middle of."

RIYL: Andy Shauf, Hovvdy, Christian Lee Hutson, Cass McCombs, Big Thief, Buck Meek

Real Estate, Tobias Jesso Jr., Alex G & Michael Nau

Recommended Tracks: 2, 5, 3, 1, 8

DNP: None