With love as the topic, Kelly finds a way to keep replenishing the creative well. Even if it can take some time for a song to surface.
“I never know what the themes are until I am in the middle of doing a record,”Kelly says. “I don’t set out with an album in mind. Over the past 20 years I just get the band together and put down a batch of songs. I put them in what I call my odd-socks drawer on the computer and as they accumulate I see which ones work together.”
Like 'Gossip', 'Fever Longing Stil'l is an album driven by a band in peak form. “Looking back on what we’ve done with these songs, it’s really a band record,” Kelly says. “That made me reflect on the longevity of the band, this squad. Peter Luscombe (drums) has been with me for more than 30 years, Bill McDonald (bass) and Dan Kelly (guitar) for 20. Even the newbies Cameron Bruce (keys) and Ash Naylor (guitar) have been with me since 2007. Our philosophy is eclectic, we want to make each song different to the last. I just love the band and that when I take a new song to them it can take on a completely new life.”
“I think of that when I keep going back to older songs too. I just try to finish things and get them right, and not be afraid to start again. You are going to have misfires but that doesn’t mean the song isn’t good. It just needs the time to be right.”
When you hear an album as strong as Fever Longing Still, you know that time is now.
