| So Much Water So Close to Home | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Paul Kelly and the Messengers |
| Cover: | So much water.jpg |
| Released: | August 1989 |
| Recorded: | February–March 1989 |
| Studio: | Ocean Way Studios, Los Angeles |
| Genre: | Folk rock |
| Length: | 40:58 |
| Label: | Mushroom/White (AUS/NZL) A&M (Rest of World) |
| Producer: | Scott Litt, Paul Kelly |
| Prev Title: | Under the Sun |
| Prev Year: | 1987 |
| Next Title: | Comedy |
| Next Year: | 1991 |
So Much Water So Close to Home is an album by Australian rock band Paul Kelly and the Messengers and was originally released in August 1989.[1] [2] The title comes from a short story of the same name by author Raymond Carver.[3] Carver died in August 1988.[4] Kelly co-wrote the score for the 2006 Australian film Jindabyne,[5] which was also based on the same story.[3] The entire album was recorded in the U.S. with producer Scott Litt,[2] best known for his work with R.E.M. It was released on Mushroom/White Records in Australia & New Zealand and A&M Records for the rest of the world.[2] The album peaked at #10 on the ARIA album charts,[6] but none of its singles, "Sweet Guy", "Careless" and "Most Wanted Man in the World" had any Top 40 chart success.[6] All tracks for the album were written by Kelly,[7] who provided vocals, guitar and harmonica and also co-produced with Litt.[2]
Paul Kelly had formed Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls in 1985, named for a group mentioned by Lou Reed in "Walk on the Wild Side".[1] [2] [8] For international releases from 1987 on, they used the name Paul Kelly and the Messengers to avoid possible racist interpretations.[1] [8] They released Gossip in 1986 on Mushroom Records in Australia and in 1987 on A&M Records for international release.[2] Under the Sun was released in 1987 in Australia and in 1988 internationally.[2]
Their next album, So Much Water So Close to Home was released in 1989 as by Paul Kelly and the Messengers in all markets.[2] It peaked at #10 on the ARIA album charts,[6] but none of its singles reached the ARIA Top 40 Singles charts.[6] The entire album was recorded in the U.S. with producer Scott Litt,[2] best known for his work with R.E.M. Litt had re-mixed some of Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls' tracks from Gossip for its US release as by Paul Kelly and the Messengers.[1] [2] So Much Water So Close to Home was released on Mushroom/White Records in Australia and A&M Records in the United States and Europe in 1989.[2]
The title comes from a 1975 short story of the same name by author Raymond Carver[3] (later collected in What We Talk About When We Talk About Love). Album track, "Everything's Turning to White" is based on Carver's short story,[9] it describes the tale of recreational fishermen who find a dead woman's body but continue their trip for three days before reporting their discovery to police.[10] Kelly would go on to co-write the score for the 2006 Australian film Jindabyne,[5] which was also based on the same story.[3] In 1991 Paul Kelly and the Messengers released their next album Comedy.[1] [2]
All tracks written by Paul Kelly.[7]
Side 1
Side 2
Paul Kelly and the Messengers
Additional musicians
Recording details
