Okay, so I've finally decided on what my actual Top Album is...
Drum roll...
Paul Kelly's 1995 release, 'Deeper Water'.
That's right. It's someone I claimed I had no actual albums by. That statement was true at the time, but since then, I've collected six Paul Kelly albums. Addictive personality? Me? No shit.
Anyway, this album was going to be one of my favourites since the moment a note of it touched my ears. Anyone who has read through my 3 Songs posts will know that the song Deeper Water is my favourite by Paul Kelly, and this album manages to form a beautiful album around it. There are too many utterly fantastic things about this album.
Let's start with the album cover. It is one of the most beautiful, simplistic images I've ever seen, conveying so much emotion in just a snapshot, using only two colours. The image is the back of a man's torso, while two hands grab his head and neck in what I must presume is a loving embrace. I suppose it could be otherwise, but I don't think so. My two other favourite album covers (West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum by Kasabian and Internationalist by Powderfinger) have a heavy reliance on colour, and for them it works, as they are very cluttered, interesting images. This is the reverse, and it's style is emphasised by Kelly's musical style, also simple and somehow older than the release date.
As usual, I'm going to pick a few songs to focus on, and I must emphasise how tricky that choice was.
The first track I'm going to focus on is "Deeper Water", the fifth track on the album. Paul Kelly's music, especially this song for me, always manages to provoke some feeling of nostalgia. It's as if Kelly's description of fictional events is so brutally accurate you can't help but feel it's real, matching his character's experiences with your own. I'm not actually going to discuss this song in depth, as I have done this before, but also there is little I can say about the song which it cannot say for itself. Listen to it.
The next song is Madeline's Song, track six. This song is a strange emotional shift, going from incredibly accurate depictions of life and it's course, to a cool, laid-back song about a dream girl, who Kelly imagines will soon grow up. There really isn't much to say about this song, and I'd be lying if I said it was memorable in comparison to the rest of the album, but there's just something about it that I really love.
Song eight, 'Give Into My Love', deserves at least a passing mention, just due to the fact it's one of the hits off of this album and is insanely catchy. The chorus is just the title repeated a few times, but it still manages to convey so much emotion. Again, the lyrics of this song aren't as good as some others, but the emotion conveyed in every line just blows me away, more than making up for it.
Track 10, 'Anastasia Changes Her Mind', is just so very likable. I just adore the lyrics because they're so very human. No one is acting like an idiot, just like people. The track itself doesn't have music or lyrics as catchy as "Give Into My Love", but there is just something so very emotional about this song that is more portrayed by the lyrics. I think this is a great portrayal of a Paul Kelly song that wasn't a hit but shows how his talent is present in almost all of his songs.
The final track on the album, 'Gathering Storm', is beautifully strange. If anyone out there lives in the countryside, Australia or otherwise, just look out into the sky at night. The feeling of just seeing something so amazingly massive out there, something not even remotely perceptible in the city, is the kind of feeling this song gives me. This song just seems to whisper to you, telling you exactly how you should feel: awed. his is easily one of my favourite closing songs of all time, akin to "A Distant Shore" by Ozi Batla. So many albums would be vastly improved if they could just produce one piece of magic to leave us on, to always remind us of the talent, the variety and the all-round skill you have in changing someone's mood so completely.
After listening to this song, I have little else to say regarding Mr. Kelly and just how under-rated he seems to be. Everyone reading, both of you, go to Youtube or Soundcloud or whatever you use and just listen to a single Paul Kelly song. I promise you will like it.
In conclusion, I have two things to say. Firstly, my Top Albums series will continue soon with a general comparison and discussion of good albums in general. I'm aware no-body comments, but if you want me to talk about something, please leave a comment here for me to respond to next week. Secondly, for anyone curious about the other possible albums for my No. 1 position, the runners up were "Happiness And Surrounding Suburbs" by Ball Park Music and "Vulture Street" by Powderfinger, both extremely good albums, both deserving a mention, but just not as good as Paul Kelly at his best.
Feedback welcome.
H. Rourke
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