Paul Kelly today releases Seventy (Deluxe Edition), an expanded edition of his acclaimed 2025 #1 Australian album, alongside a new video for his latest single, ‘Stardust’. And while ‘How To Make Gravy’famously asks, “I guess the brothers are driving down from Queensland,” this time around, the brothers won’t have to make the trip - Kelly is coming to them: Paul Kelly will play a special one-off show at Lefty’s in Brisbane on Monday August 31, with general tickets on Saturday August 29 at 7:00am AEST. Click here for more ticketing information.

The announcement comes after an unprecedented response to Kelly’s special Kings Cross show, which will take place this coming Sunday, August 30 at The Potts Point Hotel in Sydney. The intimate show sold out through an exclusive ballot, with overwhelming demand highlighting the enduring connection between Kelly and his audience.

Released in 2025 as Kelly entered his seventieth year, Seventy became another landmark in a catalogue that continues to define Australian songwriting. Debuting at No. 2 on the ARIA Albums Chart, the album was embraced by critics and audiences alike for its warmth, humanity and quietly profound reflections on life, memory and ageing.

Seventy (Deluxe Edition) adds ‘Stardust’, additional photographs and new liner notes written by Kelly himself.

Originally written by Hoagy Carmichael with lyrics by Mitchell Parish, ‘Stardust’ is one of the most enduring standards of the 20th century. Kelly’s version is a deeply personal interpretation of a song he has admired for decades.

Paul Kelly says:

“Stardust is hands down my favourite song of all time. My friend Tim Rogers agrees with me on this. Mysterious and infinitely deep. Endless. A song about a song. “And now the purple dusk of twilight time steals across the meadows of my heart” is an opening line to die for.”

“I’d circled the song for a long time and during the long, dark days of Covid in Melbourne, when we couldn’t go outside, I finally went to work. I forced my fingers into new shapes on the strings and practised moving between the (for me) complex chords. Learning them was only half the battle. I had to work out how to sing it. I studied Nat King Cole’s version and of course the man himself, Hoagy Carmichael, who co-wrote the song. Checked out Willie Nelson, too. Finally, after two weeks of deep study, I sang it into my phone as the plague hovered outside.”

The ‘Stardust’ video brings that same handmade quality to the screen, directed by Siân Darling and Ben McFayden, with the 16mm film capturing Kelly’s performance against a beautifully constructed set designed by Gigi McG.

Kelly’s Brisbane visit will also coincide with BIGSOUND, where he will appear in conversation with renowned ABC journalist Sarah Kanowski on September 1, discussing the importance of the songwriter and songwriting in shaping Australian music culture.

Presented in conjunction with APRA AMCOS as part of BIGSOUND’s celebration of 100 years of Australian songwriting, the conversation will see one of Australia’s most revered songwriters reflect on his practice, the power of words and the role songwriting has played in shaping the nation’s sound. The appearance comes as BIGSOUND celebrates its 25th year, bringing the Australian and international music industries together in Brisbane from September 1–4.

The release of Seventy (Deluxe Edition) follows an extraordinary period for Kelly, whose first-ever Australian arena tour saw tens of thousands of fans celebrate a catalogue spanning more than five decades. Universally acclaimed, the shows reaffirmed Kelly’s place at the heart of Australian music, with Check Check describing him as “one of Australia’s finest live performers,” while The Age observed that “our unofficial folk laureate sings our collective memories.”

The album also produced one of Kelly’s most talked-about songs in years, ‘Rita Wrote A Letter’, a moving and funny companion piece to the beloved Christmas classic ‘How To Make Gravy’. Decades after first introducing audiences to Joe and Dan, Kelly once again demonstrated his remarkable ability to create characters that feel woven into Australia’s cultural fabric.

Seventy (Deluxe Edition) celebrates one of the most acclaimed albums of Paul Kelly’s remarkable career, adding another chapter to a body of work that has become part of the fabric of Australian life.