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Seven Sonnets & a Song
Seven Sonnets & a Song
Studio album by Paul Kelly
Released	22 April 2016
Recorded	May 2012; 14–15 October 2014; 7 September 2015; 7–11 December 2015; 4 February 2016;
Studio	Mawson Hall; the Shed; Woodstock; Sound Park;
Genre	Rock; folk; alt-country;
Length	19:22
Label	Gawdaggie/Universal
Producer	Paul Kelly; Steven Schram; Dan Kelly; J Walker;
Paul Kelly chronology

Seven Sonnets & a Song is the twenty-first studio album by Australian musician, Paul Kelly, which was issued on 22 April 2016 on his own label, Gawdaggie Records, and distributed by Universal Music Australia. Kelly composed music for seven sonnets by William Shakespeare and a poem, "My True Love Hath My Heart", by Philip Sidney. The album debuted at No. 9 on the ARIA Albums Chart, becoming Kelly's fourth top 10. It was nominated for Best Adult Contemporary Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 2016.

Background

Seven Sonnets & a Song is the twenty-first studio album by Australian musician, Paul Kelly, which was issued on 18 April 2016 on his own label, Gawdaggie Records, and distributed by Universal Music Australia.^[1]^[2] Kelly had developed the concept of putting Shakespeare's sonnets to music to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the bard's death.^[3]^[4] Kelly sings lead vocals on six of the album's seven tracks, while Vika Bull (of Vika and Linda) provides lead vocal on "My True Love Hath My Heart", which is based on a poem by Philip Sidney.^[3]^[5]

Kelly owns a three-volume edition of Complete Works of Shakespeare and explained "Just about anything you want to say, Shakespeare's said it already."^[6] Michael Dwyer of The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Kelly "No-one ever did themselves any favours putting their lyrics next to Shakespeare's."^[7] United States-Canadian singer-songwriter, Rufus Wainwright, independently undertook a similar project for his album, Take All My Loves: 9 Shakespeare Sonnets (April 2016).^[8] Kelly explained "[previously] my own songs came about through music first or making sounds with chords and melodies and trying to get words to fit those sounds. But a few years ago I was involved in a project with a classical composer where I was asked to put poems to music. That was Yeats, Les Murray, Emily Dickinson and a few others, and that turned this key for me."^[8]

The album was recorded over five sessions from May 2012 to February 2016, with Kelly co-producing with Steve Schram on six tracks, while "O Mistress Mine (Clown's Song from Twelfth Night)" was co-produced by Kelly with, his nephew, Dan Kelly and J Walker.^[3]^[5] Music videos were prepared for "Sonnet 73" (directed by Sunny Leunig), "Sonnet 18" (Lucy Dyson) and "My True Love Hath My Heart" (Andy Doherty).^[6]

Reception

On the ARIA Albums Chart, Seven Sonnets & a Song debuted and peaked at No. 9 – it became Kelly's fourth top 10.^[1]^[4] Kelly's work received his seventh nomination for Best Adult Contemporary Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 2016.^[9] AllMusic's Mark Deming rated it as three-and-a-half stars out-of five and explained, "poetry can certainly be adapted to pop songs, and the veteran Australian singer/songwriter [Kelly] has brought us a surprising and effective example of the latter process in action... [he] puts plenty of spirit and soul into the performances... there's a bold, easygoing vigor to this music that seems respectful to both the source material and Kelly's musical instincts."^[3]

Rolling Stone Australia's Dan Lander gave it four stars out-of five and believes it as has "a strange chemistry" with "the opening strains of 'Sonnet 138' sound like nothing as much as a Paul Kelly song, lyrics and all. Later, 'Sonnet 18' repeats the trick, marrying the timeless struggles of Shakespeare’s love to that shadowy, earthy sound that Kelly has made his own. Elsewhere, 'Sonnets 44 & 45' come together in a haunting piano ballad, while 'Sonnet 60' builds to grandeur from Kelly's idiosyncratic semi-spoken style."^[10] He also states "that the only song that doesn't connect" is "My True Love Hath My Heart" which "falls flat amidst an otherwise uplifting album."^[10]

Steve Bell on TheMusic.com.au concludes "In lesser hands this could have all been tough going, but Kelly's clear love of Shakespeare meshed with his own unfettered musicality makes this yet another fascinating landmark in his ever-evolving canon."^[11] Wainwright opined "It sounds great in a convertible", Kelly responded "That's good. I make all my records to sound good in a convertible, especially."^[8]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by William Shakespeare^[3]^[12]; all music is composed by Paul Kelly,^[3]^[12] unless otherwise indicated

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Sonnet 138"		2:39
2.	"Sonnet 73"		1:53
3.	"Sonnet 18"		3:17
4.	"My True Love Hath My Heart"	Philip Sidney, Paul Kelly	2:44
5.	"Sonnets 44 & 45"		3:11
6.	"Sonnet 60"		3:25
7.	"O Mistress Mine"		2:06

Personnel

Musicians

Aaron Barden – violin
Cameron Bruce – mellotron, organ, piano, vibraphone
Linda Bull – backing vocals
Vika Bull – backing vocals, lead vocals (track 4)
Ross Irwin – string arrangements
Charlotte Jacke – cello
Alice Keath – banjo, backing vocals
Dan Kelly – guitar, backing vocals
Paul Kelly – acoustic guitar, lead vocals
Peter Luscombe – drums, tambourine
Bill McDonald – bass guitar, double bass
Ashley Naylor – guitars (acoustic, electric)
Lucky Oceans – pedal steel
Greg J Walker – autoharp
Leah Zweck – viola

Recording details

John Castle – engineering, mixing
Ross Cockle – mastering
Dan Kelly – producer (track 7)
Paul Kelly – producer
Luke Mullan – assistant engineer
Steven Schram – engineer, mixing, producer
Richard Stoltz – engineer
Greg J Walker – engineer, producer (track 7)

Artwork

John Castle – photography
Andy Doherty – photography
Paul Kelly – liner notes
Luke Mullan – photography
Peter Salmon-Lomas – artwork

Chart performance

Chart (2016)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)^[13]	9

References

^ ^a ^b Hung, Steffen. "Discography Paul Kelly". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 18 October 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
^ Wallace, Ian (18 April 2016). "The ARIA Report" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). p. 29. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 April 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Deming, Mark. "Seven Sonnets & a Song – Paul Kelly". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 8 September 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2017. Note: User may have to click on tab, e.g. "Credits" to access further information.
^ ^a ^b Wallace, Ian (2 May 2016). "The ARIA Report" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). pp. 2, 5, 7, 10, 14, 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 May 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
^ ^a ^b Kelly, Paul; Shakespeare, William (2016), Seven Sonnets & a Song, Universal Music Australia, archived from the original on 8 September 2017, retrieved 8 September 2017
^ ^a ^b Cashmere, Paul (25 February 2016). "Paul Kelly Sings William Shakespeare on Seven Sonnets & a Song". Noise11. Paul Cashmere, Ros O'Gorman. Archived from the original on 26 February 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
^ Dwyer, Michael (26 February 2016). "Paul Kelly channels William Shakespeare". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 9 September 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c Zuel, Bernard (21 April 2016). "Paul Kelly, Rufus Wainwright and William Shakespeare, together at last". The Age. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 9 September 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
^ "Winners by Year 2016". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
^ ^a ^b Lander, Dan (24 April 2016). "Paul Kelly – Seven Sonnets & a Song". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 9 September 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
^ Bell, Steve (15 April 2016). "Seven Sonnets & a Song". TheMusic.com.au. Archived from the original on 11 July 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
^ ^a ^b "'Sonnet 138' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 9 September 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2017. Note: For additional work user may have to select 'Search again' and then 'Enter a title:' or 'Performer:'
^ "Paul Kelly – Seven Sonnets & a Song". Australian Charts Portaln. Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 September 2017.