WHAT IN THE WORLD CAN I DO?
In the Fall of 2021 the Toronto / Los Angeles artist released his sophomore record, Omw 4ev on 444%. Louie was the sole architect of the project, showcasing his DIY instincts from songwriting through mix. The record conjures elements that range from Tobias Jessso Jr. to Gram Parsons. Warmth, charm and honesty.
“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.
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 of life where you are on your way... 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 worll where you're either coming or going, I wanted to celebrate the part of life where you are on your way... forever!"
The album opener and first single – a beautiful song Called “What Can I Do – is a song with a journey interesting enough to warrant a standalone release and connects a father and son’s career almost 40 years apart. The song was written by Louie’s father Michael Short and an artist named BJ Cook in late 1970s Toronto. It was recorded with the intent of selling – possibly through BJ’s ex-husband David Foster – but nothing came and the tape disappeared.
40 years later, in the process of clearing out the old studio, an engineer who’d always liked the recording, digitized it and emailed it to the writers. Michael played it for Louie and Lou cut the record shortly thereafter.
Now, we’re blessed to be releasing the original 1979 demo recording, the duet between Cook and Michael Short. It’s a much different song, recorded through the lens of a very different time, but the two interpretations, though generations apart are both more than worth their time.
Michael Short had only this to say: “I love what Louie did to it. It’s amazing that he’s kept this song alive after all these years.”
"I love what Louie did to it.
It's amazing he's kept this song alive after all these years." - Michael Short
Louie had some comments around his own record that fit well right here. “Things in the middle of life tend to be neglected,” he mused.
“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.”
Read our feature on Louie from July, where we talk about how he’s not not trying to be Carole King, and go in deeper on what it really means to be on your way forever.
