Before Paul Kelly got “meme’d” as “The Gravy Man” and all anyone wanted to talk about was that one Xmas song, I guess he also wrote some pretty great LPs with The Messengers. Lots of words spilled about PK but in my opinion he was one of the only Oz rockers who was able to strike the balance between (slightly pretentious) literary ambitions and on-the-ground/down-to-earth folky songwriting.
-Mitch (Repressed Records)
From the label:
Paul Kelly remains - after 30-odd years at the forefront of music - Australia's most treasured songwriter and performer. With sales into the millions, his influence is felt beyond music into areas of social justice, politics and other spheres interwoven into Australian culture. In 2010 UMA proudly welcomes Paul Kelly and looks forward to re-presenting (in this first of three batches) his valued, cherished catalogue; songs that have become unanimous unofficial national anthems. 'So Much Water...' was originally released in August 1989. The title comes from a short story of the same name by author Raymond Carver. Carver had died in August 1988. Kelly would go on to co-write the score for the 2006 Australian film Jindabyne, which was also based on the same story. The entire album was recorded in the U.S. with producer Scott Litt, best known for his work with R.E.M. The album peaked at #10 on the ARIA album charts and boasted the singles, "Sweet Guy", "Careless" and "Most Wanted Man in the World". An album which focuses on and is true to Paul Kelly's intriguing knack of fiction telling - while at the same time employing more romance and poetry; 'So Much Water So Close To Home' - over 20 years later is a classic of it's genre.