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 JEFF APTER spends a few moments with admired Aussie songsmith PAUL KELLY, finding out about the musician’s new album proper, Stolen Apples.
Paul Kelly obviously likes the look of the road less travelled. Who else would consider fusing the poetry of lower-case American ee cummings with an earthy, rootsy rock growl rarely heard this side of Sun Studios, circa 1955, or writing a post 9/11 meditation from a terrorist’s viewpoint? But it’s just another day in the office for the legendary Oz singer / strummer, the voice behind such homegrown classics as Before Too Long, To Her Door, Dumb Things and dozens of other wise, tuneful snapshots of real life. Foggy Fields of France, is one of numerous highlights of Stolen Apples, Kelly’s first solo outing – at least under his own name – in three years. It’s also one of many tracks on Stolen Apples that Kelly uses to plot the album’s narrative course; a thread, of sorts, connects many of the dozen tracks. But as always he’s doing things in his own unique manner. “I’ve gone the other way [than the norm],” he figures, “starting the record with songs of experience, moving backwards to songs of innocence like Keep On Driving and Foggy Fields of France, then back to experience again for Please Leave Your Lights On,” the stirring, piano-powered confession that closes the album. So where’s Kelly been since 2004’s Ways & Means? Over the past few years, he’s been the king of “side projects”, having worked on film soundtracks and jammed with bluegrass masters the Stormwater Boys. He also produced the sterling Kev Carmody tribute, Cannot Buy My Soul. “That had been on my mind for a few years,” says Kelly. “I compiled my version of what I thought were Kev’s greatest hits and in an effort to really get it heard I targeted people who I thought would be right, and who had also sold a lot of records.” For his next tour, beginning in August, the Kelly gang includes guitarist Ash Naylor, of Even, and nephew Dan Kelly, both acclaimed songwriters and performers in their own right. And in an effort to keep it fresh, Kelly plans to begin the night with Stolen Apples in its entirety, before moving onto the ‘greatest hits’ segment of the show, where there’s every chance he’ll dust off some rarely-heard yet much-loved classics. His A to Z events, where he revisited his back catalogue in an alphabetical format, most recently witnessed at the stately Sydney Opera House, were a huge hit, and something that Kelly plans to revisit again soon. The idea, he admits, was one of those “crazy, middle of the night things”, but he quickly discovered that it was an effective way for a man who’d just turned 50 to “take stock” of both his life and his music. But it’s not all about serious re-evaluation for Paul Kelly these days. During the sessions for Stolen Apples, which mainly took place in his garden shed, Kelly took time out to document the life and times of Australian cricketing icon and recent retiree, Shane Warne, basing his valentine on an old calypso tune. (The end result can be found on YouTube.) So, given Warney’s love of groping and googlies, is it as reverential a eulogy as Kelly’s own Don Bradman? Well, Kelly does take the chance to rhyme ‘text’ with ‘sex’. “Let’s just say it’s a celebration of Shane,” Kelly says laughing, before heading back to his shed. Stolen Apples is out now through EMI. His Queensland tour includes: Wednesday Sep 19 (QPAC), Sep 20 (Empire Theatre, Toowoomba), Sep 21 (Seagulls, Tweed Heads), Sep 22 (Civic Centre, Nambour), and Sep 23 (Civic Centre, Ipswich). Tickets available from www.ticketmaster.com.au / 136 100. More outlet information can be found at www.paulkelly.com.au
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