ABOUT PAUL

Born in Yorkshire and raised in Glasgow, Paul Eldridge has been working as a professional pianist in London for over a decade covering a wide range of musical styles and settings that include performances with Suggs (Madness), Geno Washington and The Rumble Strips. Two years ago he began writing songs for himself as an experiment, free from any constraints imposed by genres or trends or indeed any pre-conceived concept.

“I don’t know where the hell I’m going, but I can see that the sun is shining…”

ABOUT THE ALBUM

After playing his ideas to fellow musicians and receiving incredibly positive feedback, he decided to take the plunge. ‘‘I simply wanted to write an album that I’d like to hear,’’ says Paul, ‘‘One that I could put on and listen to from beginning to end without skipping a track! I had no idea what would emerge, and that made the process quite exciting.’’ The result is an album of twelve songs that cover issues of love, loss, hope and censorship against a backdrop of sumptuous harmonies and wistful melodies.

Looking Out Backwards has taken a year to produce. Recorded during breaks in Paul’s busy schedule as a freelance musician, and self-financed, it was released in August 2010.

The personnel on the album include Julian Burdock on guitar (whose credits include work with Seal, Beverly Knight and Jocelyn Brown), Silas Maitland on bass (Seal, Robert Fripp, Geno Washington) and Mike Connolly on drums. Strings and woodwind are added to the mix with a notable solo violin part on Oceans of Night played by Gillon Cameron, a violinist whose own work covers a broad repertoire ranging from Brahms concertos to Radiohead. TV-composer Simon Wallace recorded the instrumental parts at his home studio in London and the vocals were recorded by Paul’s old school friend, Mark Thomson, in Glasgow. Mark also mixed the album at his studio in Glasgow’s famous Mixing Rooms complex. Finally, the album was mastered by Scotland’s own legendary sound engineer Calum Malcolm.

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

In the summer of 2009, while Paul was in Glasgow recording vocals, he visited an exhibition of paintings by the artist Lesley Banks. One of the paintings, Towards Giudecca © 2009, caught his eye and permission was given for him to use it on the front cover, together with another painting, Dark Interior © 2009 for the inside artwork. With that final piece of serendipity the album Looking Out Backwards was complete.

Available now on CD Baby and i-Tunes.

Hear it on Spotify!