Paul produced and performed on Declan O’Rourke’s new LP, “Arrivals.” The album was recorded at Weller’s Black Barn studio. It features contributions from Hannah Peel (string arrangements), Charles Rees (mixer) and Ben Gordelier (drums). It’s stunningly beautiful!
“There were numerous thoughts Paul had on the project. The most fundamental and direct was what he suggested when I approached him with the idea of me doing a stripped-back album, just me and the guitar, basically. He felt the right approach with the batch of songs I brought with me was that I should veer towards the more personally driven. Although it’s against my instinct, I asked him should I think of having something on the album that could be viewed as radio-friendly, but he said no one knows what gets on to radio any more so why bother trying, that what stands up to the test of time is a great record. I was able to dive more into myself with that approach, and he pulled the songs even further into a deep, intimate and personal path. The real eureka moment was his suggestion to add small textures to the songs – something here, something there. That sounded crazy to me because in my limited experience compared to his, I thought to introduce things to especially bare and naked songs, even for only a few bars and then leave, would be like having a massive thumb sticking out. Yet in every single instance, it was perfect, and he was right.” – Declan O’Rourke
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