There's very little that excites the Australian music-consuming public like a combination of the words 'Paul Dempsey' and 'cover'. 

Perhaps that's why the release of the Something For Kate frontman's Shotgun Karaoke Vol. II has been so well-received by his legions of fans?

As Dempsey explains via Zoom, he's a little bit surprised by the reception his latest release has garnered, especially given he hadn't particularly viewed it as a "real record."

"I guess I don't really expect covers records to feel like such a big deal," he admits. When I make these Shotgun Karaoke records, they're kind of off-the-cuff and hashed together. I obviously try to make them good, but I also try to keep them as spontaneous and raw as possible.

"So in that sense, I don't put nearly as much work into them as I do into a Something For Kate record or, or a proper, original Paul Dempsey record. So it's kind of funny to me when they get treated like a real record.

"It's a completely different exercise, but that's also why it is so much fun and why I enjoy doing it so much," he adds. "it doesn't involve as much personal catharsis and hard labor., it's more just like, 'Hey, this is fun.'"

Dempsey is no stranger to the world of covers. For those willing to go deep into the archives (and let's face it, Dempsey's fanbase is a voracious one who wouldn't say no to the opportunity), one would need to go back to 1997's Intermission EP to find the first case of a recorded cover from Something For Kate, where Truly – a cut from defunct US outfit Hazel – got a run.

Though fans would argue that the live versions of the cover are miles better (hence why calls for the track are a staple of any live appearance from Dempsey), dropping a cover into live sets was already standard practice for the band, and would follow both Something For Kate and Dempsey for decades.

Alongside myriad live covers, the occasional secondhand song would appear on B-sides, on reissues, and even as a staple of triple j's Like A Version series. In 2013, however, the concept saw Dempsey release a full album of covers dubbed Shotgun Karaoke.

"In 2013, Something For Kate were on tour and that's when Clint [Hyndman, drummer] and Steph [Ashworth, bassist] started essentially challenging me to cover songs backstage that they would just throw at me.

"They were like, 'Okay, you've got 10 minutes and then we're going to film you doing it.'"

Originally released as a series of videos online, these same covers – which included songs by Archers Of Loaf, Concrete Blonde, You Am I, The Afghan Whigs, and more – would be re-recorded for an album dubbed Shotgun Karaoke, borrowing the name from a bonus disc that had also been packaged with Something For Kate's Leave Your Soul To Science the year prior.

Sadly, cuts by Iron Maiden, The Lemonheads, and Sheryl Crow didn't find themselves re-recorded, though R.E.M.'s Losing My Religion would find itself reappearing for this latest volume. But without the backstage push from bandmates to cover songs at (figurative) gunpoint, what was it that inspired this latest volume?

"Cover songs are something we've always enjoyed doing, so I guess I'm always adding to a list of songs that I would potentially like to have a crack at," Dempsey explains. "I guess the list just got big enough that I was like, 'Oh, there's probably a Volume Two here.

"I'd also just finished the Fanning Dempsey National Park record, and we're going to start working on a new Something For Kate records, so I guess I just thought that maybe now is a good time to do it as a little  palette cleanser and a bit of a mental reset as I sort of move from one project headspace into a new project headspace."

Recording the album at home at his leisure, the second volume of Shotgun Karaoke provides a bit of a snapshot of Dempsey's recording process, with the songs laid down in a single take without any overdubs, and only a few attempts at each song being made.

The track selection is also an interesting one, with songs from iconic artists like Cher, Patti Smith, R.E.M., and Don Henley appearing alongside names like Superchunk, Sugar, Bright Eyes, and Carla Geneve and even overlooked classics by the likes of Tanita Tikaram and the short-lived Michael Hutchence and Ollie Olsen collaboration Max Q.

For Dempsey, the selection of songs isn't one he focuses on too much, instead preferring to let it happen organically.

"They're purely just songs that I love," he says. "You just hear so many in the course of hearing music and you just go, 'Wow, what an awesome song,' you listen to it a million times, and it stays with you. 

"Most of the songs on this record are kind of from my childhood and they've just been with me forever. There's a couple of newer, more recent things on there – Carla Geneveve and Bright Eyes are probably two of the most recent things on there – but the rest of it is pretty much from the '80s and '90s. 

"So there's songs that have just been with me forever and I just love them."

To his additional credit, Dempsey also notes that he wants to ensure he's singing the songs in their original key, with any transposing being out of the question.

"I don't like changing songs out of their original key, so if I can pull it off in the original key, then great," he says. "There's loads of songs I would love to cover that I just can't get there in the original key vocally, so unfortunately they're not going to happen. 

"And that's part of the challenge too. Like Cher's If I Could Turn Back Time, for instance, I never thought I'd be able to hit those notes. But my voice has changed over the years and, and I sort of just gave it a crack and I was like, 'Alright, that's close enough.'"

Another song that Dempsey had been able to attack thanks to a changing voice is album closer The First Part, originally recorded by indie rock icons Superchunk. Another track on his list of songs he hopes to cover one day is a classic which may be unexpected to some, but would fit perfectly into his oeuvre of reinterpretations.

"I do remember on the Something For Kate tour when Clint and Steph were challenging me, there's a Mariah Carey song called We Belong Together that I would put on in the van all the time," he remembers. "I'm not an avid listener of Mariah Carey, but she certainly has an incredible voice. 

"That song in particular, I just think is an absolute masterclass, and I think it's possibly her finest recorded performance. I remember hearing that song quite by accident. I was watching some American Music Awards show or something when I was in the States one time and she came on and performed that song live – it wasn't lip syncing or backing tracks or whatever she did. 

"It was really stripped back and live and it was fucking incredible," he continues. "I just listened to that song over and over 'cause it's such a powerhouse vocal performance. But there's notes she hits in that song which are just in the stratosphere."

While songs by Cher, Mariah Carey, and R.E.M. are well-known by the public, throwing in some more decidedly lesser-known cuts make things interesting, but it doesn't reduce any of the pressure that might be associated with doing a beloved song justice.

For Dempsey, however, he doesn't falter at the challenge of covering a song. He's very rarely – if ever – worried about the notion of doing a song justice or worrying that his cover might not live up to the expectations of what the public might think.

At the end of the day, it just comes with territory of cover songs.

"Look, people are going to think that anyway," he states. "There's people who are going to hear any one of the songs on this record and some of them are going to go, 'Yes, he did it justice,' and some of them are going to go, 'No way, that was awful.' You just can't please everybody.

"It's ridiculous to even worry yourself about it as long as you're doing your best and being honest. I was worried about covering, Losing My Religion just because it affects people on such a unique level. It's such a unique song, it's just one of my favorite songs of all time, and I know that many, many people feel the same way. 

"There's something sacred about that song, which is a strange thing to say, but it's true," he adds. "So I was worried a little bit about that, but then I just kind of thought some people are going to like it, some people aren't going to like it, but I only want to do it because I love it. 

"And it's obvious because it's just me with an acoustic guitar; it's completely obvious that I'm not trying to compete with the original or better the original. So if I just do that and do it honestly, then hopefully what comes through to the listener is A, that the song is such a fucking great song; and B, that my love for the song is present in my version of it."

With such a diverse bunch of covers in the back pocket, Dempsey also notes that the key to a great reinterpretation is the pushing of oneself out of their comfort zone. It's this sort of approach which led to one of the covers he's most proud of; Sam Brown's Stop.

"I was just really happy at the time that I pulled off a possible version, because I've always loved that song so much," he remembers. "I think that was the first time I kind of went, 'Can I hit those notes?'

"I pushed myself to really use my falsetto and I figured out a clever way to do it on the guitar. That was probably, I think, one of the earliest times where I felt like I set myself this challenge of doing a song that was well out of my comfort zone and just giving it a go and it worked.

"That one was sort of educational for me and probably helped me have the confidence to do a lot of other things following that."

While the recorded versions of the covers are truly stellar, Dempsey is now heading out on the road to bring his new record of re-records to the people, kicking things off with a performance at His Majesty's Theatre in Perth on Friday, October 31st.

Though typically a consummate professional, Dempsey admits he'll be approaching these shows with as much of a seat-of-the-pants vibe as possible, attempting to live up to the album's titular concept as best he can.

"I'm being as unprepared as possible," he admits with a laugh. "These are big shows for me, they're some pretty grand venues, and it's just me by myself up there. And the more I think about trying to plan it out and have some perfect set list and stick to some plan, the more I just think it feels too limiting

"It's like, you make plans and things turn to shit. So I'm sort of approaching it as I don't know what I'm going to do, and I honestly don't know what I'm going to do. I know that there's kind of 40 or 50 songs I could just play at the drop of a hat, and I'm going to have a loose idea of how to start and how to finish.

"But I'm just going to try and keep it like that," he adds. "I think that's going to be more fun for the audience as well and more in fitting with the general sort of joke about this being karaoke-ish."

Paul Dempsey's Shotgun Karaoke Vol. II is out now, and tickets to his Australian tour are on sale now.

Paul Dempsey – Shotgun Karaoke Volume II Tour

Friday, October 31st – His Majesty's Theatre, Perth, WA

Friday, November 7th – Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House, Sydney, NSW

Friday, November 14th – Concert Hall, QPAC, Brisbane, QLD

Saturday, November 15th – Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide, SA

Saturday, November 22nd – Palais Theatre, Melbourne, VIC