Deeper Water

Personnel: Paul Kelly (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, harmonica); Linda Bull (vocals); Randy Jacobs (electric guitar, background vocals); Shane O'Mara (electric guitar, steel guitar); Graham Lee (pedal steel, electric steel, background vocals); Kerryn Tolhurst (slide guitar); Bruce Haymes (keyboards, background vocals); Stephen Hadley (acoustic bass, bass, background vocals); Paul Ossola (acoustic bass); Peter Luscombe (drums, percussion); Matt Patuto (marimbas); Stan Mitchell (shaker); Ray Pereira (percussion); Rebecca Barnard (background vocals); Simon Polinski.
Producers: Paul Kelly (tracks 1, 3-6, 10-11); Paul Kelly, Randy Jacobs (tracks 2, 9); Kerryn Tolhurst (track 7); Paul Kelly, Kerryn Tolhurst (track 8); Paul Kelly, Simon Polinski (track 12).
Engineers: Simon Polinski (tracks 1-6, 8-12); Julian McBrowne (track 7).
Recorded between September 1994 and June 1995.
All songs written or co-written by Paul Kelly except "Queen Stone" (Maurice Frawley/Shane Walsh).
Audio Mixer: Simon Polinski.
Recording information: Periscope (04/1995); Platinum (04/1995); Studio 900 (04/1995); Periscope (06/1995); Platinum (06/1995); Studio 900 (06/1995); Periscope (06/1995/09/1994); Platinum (06/1995/09/1994); Studio 900 (06/1995/09/1994).
Without reconvening the Messengers, Paul Kelly nevertheless worked with a steady backup band on Deeper Water, resulting in a more consistent musical style than he had employed on Wanted Man. He did try South African mbaqanga on "Madeleine's Song" and a kind of Eno-like ambience on "Gathering Storm," but most of the songs had folk-rock arrangements, and most concerned romantic subjects, within which Kelly's primary concerns were lust and betrayal. On the best songs, he took a different tack or found a twist: The title tune was a rite of passage metaphor about generational commitment and "I'll Forgive But I Won't Forget" found new ways to talk about infidelity by focusing on the friend rather than the straying lover and delaying the news of the crime until the last verse. Such songs marked Kelly as a craftsman with a sense of surprise, and raised Deeper Water a cut above the more diffuse Wanted Man. ~ William Ruhlmann