Paul Kelly Reveals His New Album ‘Seventy’ Arrives in November.
Seventy is Paul Kelly’s 30th record, arriving in the singer-songwriter’s 70th year on the planet.
Image Dean Podmore
There’s no slowing down Paul Kelly. A year after the release of his 29th record, the legendary Aussie singer-songwriter is back with his 30th album, Seventy.
As the title of the album suggests, Seventy coincides with Kelly turning the big 7-0 and is shaping up as his most personal work yet. Arriving Friday 7 November (pre-order here), Seventy showcases a songwriter at his peak, with the album cover photo by Dean Podmore paying homage to the iconic 1988 Jon Lewis photograph of Paul.
The album’s first single, ‘Rita Wrote A Letter’, is the sequel to Kelly’s classic Christmas tune ‘How To Make Gravy’.
“I've been mulling over the idea of a sequel to ‘How To Make Gravy’ from Rita's point of view for quite some time,” Kelly explains. “About five years ago I wrote down the words, ‘Rita wrote a letter,’ and thought, ‘There's my title.’”
“I scratched away intermittently and fruitlessly for several years but never got very far until Dan Kelly sent me a recording of something he'd written on piano with a rough melody over the top. The words started rolling after that. As often happens, they took me by surprise. You could say the song took a dark turn but to my mind it's a black comedy. A ghost story. You hear Rita's voice loud and clear, but Joe talks even more. I couldn't shut him up!"
The song is accompanied by a music video directed by Aussie filmmaker Imogen McCluskey and produced by Jessica Carrera of Dollhouse Pictures. Starring Australian actress Justine Clarke, the clip takes place some 30 years after the events of the original song, with ‘Rita Wrote a Letter’ described as “a ghost story that's both tender and darkly comic.”
“I was inspired to tap into my own family's ghost stories when approaching the creative for Paul Kelly's ‘Rita Wrote a Letter’,” says McClusky. “Often funny and tender, they speak to the thin membrane between this world and the next, and the messages that reach us from beyond the grave. I hope the iconic lore of Rita and Joe continues to touch PK fans new and old.”
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Seventy takes inspiration from a wide range of sources, including Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, Boccaccio's Decameron, W.B. Yeats, The Lord Of The Rings and the French Resistance.
The 13 tracks also feature Kelly's long-time band, who are better than ever. “Looking back on what we've done with these songs, it's really a band record,” Kelly reflects. “Peter Luscombe has been with me for more than 30 years, Bill McDonald and Dan Kelly for 20. Even the newbies Cameron Bruce and Ash Naylor have been with me since 2007.”
The announcement of Seventy comes as Kelly prepares to embark on his first arena tour of Australia. The 17-time ARIA Award-winning artist behind classic tracks ‘To Her Door’, ‘Dumb Things’ and ‘How To Make Gravy’ begins his six-date Australian tour at Perth’s RAC Arena on Tuesday 26 August.
Kelly then makes his way to Brisbane’s to play the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Friday 29 August and follows that with concerts at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena on Saturday 30 August, Hobart’s MyState Bank Arena on Tuesday 2 September and Adelaide’s Entertainment Centre on Thursday 4 September. The final show takes place at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne on Saturday 6 September.
Joining Kelly and his band on tour are country great Lucinda Williams and Australia’s own rising star Fanny Lumsden.
Catch Paul Kelly at Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Thursday 4 September. Tickets are on sale now via the Frontier Touring website. Pre-order Seventy here.
PAUL KELLY AUSTRALIA TOUR Dates 2025
With special guests Lucinda Williams and Fanny Lumsden
Tuesday, August 26 - RAC Arena, Perth
Friday, August 29 - Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane
Saturday, August 30 - Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney
Tuesday, September 2 - MyState Bank Arena, Hobart
Thursday, September 4 - Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide
Saturday, September 6 - Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
