The Midnight Hour

Declan Kelly has been something of a constant within both his scene and genre. Originally a drummer, his work over the past decade has established him as one of Australia's most consistent reggae singer-songwriters and performers. His debut album Tales From The Neighbourhood would eventually secure him a Best Blues & Roots Act MusicOz Award in 2008. Follow-up album Adrift was and remains critically acclaimed, years after its 2009 release.

Still, there's always been more to the musician. A veteran of Sydney's fertile music community and perpetual road dog, Kelly was an early confederate of later Australian music star Alex Lloyd (even drumming for his band, at one point) and has studied West African rhythms in Europe under the tutelage of legendary African musician Afro Moses. With that in mind, it's perhaps not surprising that, despite his reggae background, he's ended up recording an album of Midnight Oil covers.

“It's been something that's been on my mind for a while. I love Midnight Oil as a band and I love what they stand for and I thought their songs would actually really work in a dub setting,” Kelly says. “I'm not at all a political artist. I do stand behind environmental issues. I have my say – but, as a project, this is, first and foremost, about the music.”

However, it's somewhat surprising to learn of Kelly's co-conspirator – Neil Fraser (aka Mad Professor). A legend of his genre, Fraser has collaborated with Lee Scratch Perry and Sly & Robbie and been commissioned to remix everyone from Beastie Boys to Massive Attack. Kelly has just recently returned from mixing the album with Fraser in London ahead of the album's release later this year.

“It was really just through mutual friends. He walked into the studio one day when we were recording and he liked the project. He didn't really know Midnight Oil but he was eager to be involved so, yeah, I ended up flying over to London and mixing it with him,” he says – still sounding a little shell-shocked by the idea. “It was a little bit intimidating but, really, we had a great time. He was brought up on reggae and soul and so was I. We just talked about music a lot.

“I'm not sure if I managed to convert him to Midnight Oil. After each mix, I'd play him the original version of the songs and, really, the versions that we've recorded are quite different. To the point of being almost unrecognisable, in some instances,” Kelly laughs. “I'm really trying to stretch out and explore some new things on this album. I think he was quite dumbfounded. I'm not sure where he stood at the end of it.”

In its own way, it's quintessential Kelly. A reggae musician with lashings of folk and Afrobeat, Kelly is, in many ways, a well-kept secret within Australian music. His work is obscure and earthy while still being known and celebrated by some of our nation's musical luminaries. An expansive collection of reggae covers of Midnight Oil produced by a genre legend is seems a fitting project for such a personality. Doubly so, when one learns Midnight Oil have already endorsed the release.

“Oh, yeah. I showed it to the band members a good while back when we were first getting started. They loved it. Peter Garrett even agreed to have a little meeting with me,” Kelly says proudly. “Which was incredibly nice of him. It meant a lot to me to get the stamp of approval from those guys.”

Declan Kelly will be playing the following dates:

Wednesday 15 May - Mojo's Bar, Perth WA