Album Notes

“whatever Lucy says” is laid-back rhythms, smokey vocals and gorgeous stories. Sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes comforting, Louise sings purely and unaffectedly, in a heartfelt, direct-from-her-soul-to-yours manner.

Louise's great love, she will tell you, is songwriting. Songwriting of any kind. Of late, she has been writing for other artists, successfully achieving cuts on major label releases in Australia. So far the songs that she has released under her own name have been r&b/soul releases. “whatever Lucy says” is certainly a departure but the voice and the attention to lyric and melody remain.

“It wasn't so much about concentrating on writing to a particular style or genre as writing however and whatever was needed to tell the story that presented itself at the time. As a result, I think it is an album that is earthy, honest and intimate with lyrics written very much from personal experience because we weren't trying to “be” anything or “sound like” anything. My co-writers were all very willing to come for the ride and I love where it has taken us. For one thing, I never thought I'd ever end up with a reggae song on one of my albums...”

“whatever Lucy says” was an obvious choice for the title track and sets the tone for the album. It carries a spiritual and hopeful message about the fact that we all hold a much greater knowledge within us if we let go and care to use it. Lucy is just a name for it.

“That song almost wrote itself - the lyrics felt like they were being dictated to me as they fell onto the page - I remember feeling very comforted as I wrote them down.
And we had so little time to record the songs, grabbing moments here and there when we were all available. I had to adopt a very zen approach or go crazy! Letting go of performances and trusting that they were all going to work was a great lesson but I was very clear about who I wanted to have involved so that is how it had to be!”

The stories hold something for everyone. There are revealing and raw moments, frank observations and questions that are asked. The imagery is vivid and the tone is hopeful and honest. The melodies are refreshing and the instrumentation, luxurious.

“This album is a happy accident really. I had no intention of releasing an album of this type when I started writing these songs. It was just writing some songs with friends - just sitting down to see what would happen. But as we went along, the recordings just sounded so beautiful that I had to put it out there. A friend said to me while I was trying to make up my mind, “Why would you paint a beautiful painting if not to hang it on the wall”. I'm glad she said that to me... “

The Paisley Couch Project is Louise Perryman, Sam Hawksley, Bill Risby and Gordon Rytmeister with special appearances by Matt Fell, Tony King, Kris Ralph, Rachel Gaudry, Brydon Stace.