Paul Kelly, Stella Donnelly, 5 Seconds of Summer lead November's best new albums

Did you have a tuneful November?

To commemorate Ausmusic Month drawing to a close, we are presenting an all-Aussie edition of the month's best new albums.

We believe you can never have too much homegrown music in your sonic diet. So if you're keen to boost your local consumption, look no further.

Paul Kelly — Seventy

Spotify | YouTube | Apple Music

What's left to prove when you've long been enshrined as a national music treasure? Well, there's always satisfaction in sharing a good story and a little wisdom.

Paul Kelly does plenty of both on his 30th album, which bolsters his enduring appeal as a spinner of engrossing yarns.

The warm and welcoming Tell Us A Story bookends the record with literary shout-outs to The Lord of the Rings and Homer's Odyssey. The Body Keeps The Score, informed by Bessel van der Kolk's book of the same name, reckons with intergenerational trauma via understated, melancholy rock.

The deceptively catchy Rita Wrote A Letter (in case you missed it) is the sequel to beloved 1996 Christmas classic How To Make Gravy, its gallows humour offering a playful take amid tunes fixated with mortality.

As he sagely sings, Kelly is keenly aware "the road ahead is shorter now than the road behind". On the country-tinged Happy Birthday, Ada Mae, addressed to his two-year-old granddaughter, he notes: "Guess I'll be gone before you're 20."

Rather than dwell on not being around to see her grow up, he explores the significance of a life well lived.

Seventy is also a showcase for Kelly's long-serving band, who know instinctively when to ease up — as on the poignant, piano-led My Body Felt No Pain — and when to unload.

They provide a bluesy rumble on I Keep On Coming Back For More, as Kelly grunts and growls, personifying an addict who knows his fix is only doing more harm than good.

Songs seem to flow out of him as naturally as a river, but "they're coming less often now," Kelly recently admitted on Take 5 with Zan Rowe. "Maybe I'm sick of myself … does the world really need another song?"

Yes, is the emphatic response on the evidence of Seventy.

For fans of: Archie Roach, Meg Washington, Bob Dylan

• Al Newstead

Stella Donnelly — Love and Fortune

Spotify | YouTube | Apple Music

On her third album, the WA-bred, Melbourne-based singer-songwriter excavates the disappointment and complex feelings of a "platonic break-up" with an old friend.

Honesty has been Donnelly's calling card ever since 2017 breakout Boys Will Be Boys, but Love And Fortune tones down the cheeky wit of her early work and substitutes it with a mellower, simpler approach that can still pack emotional punch.

"My belly aches when I hear your name called out in a crowd," she confesses in the piano lament Year of Trouble before delicate harmonies and synth rise around the closing chorus. "Since you've been closed off to me, it's been a lonely ride."

She can still knock out breezy indie rock — evidenced by Being Nice and W.A.L.K., a charming ode to self-care — but on Feel It Change, the pleasant jangle of guitars disguises the hurt.

She laments over messages never sent on the meditative Friend, mourns an important friendship vanishing on Ghosts ("I wear the sheet and keep my body hidden"), then achieves acceptance on the gorgeous, crystalline Please Everyone ("Wherever you may be, I hope it's kind to you").

Donnelly doesn't stoke drama or parse out blame because, as she wisely told Zan Rowe for Take 5, "if you're going to point [the finger] out, you've got to be prepared to point in."

For fans of: Julia Jacklin, Carla Geneve, The Go-Betweens

• Al Newstead

Hatchie — Liquorice

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Hatchie's latest collection of dream-pop wonders might take you back to an era of smoky bars and jangly guitars, when Docs were practically part of the uniform.

These songs don't just feel familiar, they're sophisticated without pretension and feel more at ease than what the (still excellent) last album Giving the World Away offered in 2022.

The Hatchie sonic aesthetic — a collage of both nostalgic and modern reference points crafted in collaboration with partner Joe Agius — has always been strong. While the songs represent a genuine progression from what we've heard in the past, that all-important vibe carries through on Liquorice. It's unashamedly vintage but also of its time, and it never feels too indebted to the scenes and styles it's inspired by.

Fellow dream-pop acolyte Melina Duterte (better known as Jay Som) proves an inspired production choice, swapping taut gloss for a gauzy warmth that amplifies Harriette Pilbeam's quiet confidence. Nearly a decade in, Hatchie is still the dream-pop hero we never knew we needed.

For fans of: Cocteau Twins, Alvvays, The Sundays

• Dan Condon

emjaysoul — Kenny & Friends

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Emjaysoul's third album, Kenny & Friends, is a producer-led rap/R&B/dance record that harks back to hip-hop's crate-digging roots with fresh sample flips and fun, energetic production choices.

Casually sprinkled throughout this tastefully sequenced album are some of Australia and New Zealand's most exciting rappers and singers, with instrumentals that spotlight each of their varied strengths.

Features from the likes of Mali Jo$e, Cherry Rype, Isaac Puerile, Fisheye FM and Sollyy may not mean much to those not tapped into the bubbling scene this album holds dear, but it's an all-star line-up that is only going to age immaculately.

Kenny & Friends is a no-skips ode to hard yakka that feels like a perfect encapsulation of what makes Australia's underground so exciting at the moment. Community, confidence and a shared love of what it really means to rep the +61 country code through rap music propels the album to one of the most exciting Australian hip-hop projects in quite some time.

For fans of: Madlib, Kaytranada, Dreamville

• James Brennan

5 Seconds of Summer — Everyone's A Star!

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In their late teens, Sydney's 5SOS helped define the 2010s wave of boy bands as One Direction's edgier, pop-punk cousins.

They interrogate that legacy on the chart-topping, stylishly self-aware Everyone's A Star, reinventing themselves on bombastic songs gilded with flashy synths, gutsier guitars and propulsive, electronic-assisted drums.

Channelling the freewheeling spirit of K-pop or Gorillaz, they tap influences outside the top 40 eco-sphere to add grit to their traditionally commercial sound.

The Prodigy's mega-hit Firestarter is the unlikely blueprint for NOTOK, which mixes a shout-along chorus with a drawling Damon Albarn impression. Meanwhile the title track (and certainly their wild new wardrobe) has taken cues from Irish rock band Fontaines D.C.

Telephone Busy and the hedonistic Evolve tinker with synth-funk, and they effectively poke fun at their teen idol past on Boyband — skewering the "monkey dance" of fame over pulsing electronics and sampled camera flashes.

Even a requisite romantic moment, like The 1975-adjacent I'm Scared I'll Never Sleep Again, matches its vocal yearning with insistent beats and spoken-word interjections.

Having each released solo albums in recent years, all four members are empowered with the freedom to have fun messing with their established formula here.

It doesn't all work — istillfeelthesame is mired in a hackneyed 80s palette, and Ghost is largely forgettable — but at its most audacious, it's intriguing enough to earn them a whole new audience.

For fans of: BROCKHAMPTON, The 1975, Harry Styles

• Al Newstead

Paul Dempsey — Shotgun Karaoke Vol. II

Spotify | YouTube | Apple Music

We all know cover versions can be fraught, with only the best managing the tricky balancing act of fidelity and originality. Someone who has consistently nailed that tightrope is Paul Dempsey.

Shotgun Karaoke Vol. II is further proof he's arguably Australia's own Patron Saint of Covers, able to get inside what makes a song tick with just an acoustic guitar and his gruff-yet-pleading voice.

This long-awaited sequel to the 2013 original doesn't mess with a winning formula: it's Dempsey in solo mode, recording each track in a few takes and, proudly, in the original key.

Witness as he scales the arena-baiting peak of Cher's Turn Back Time, which sits alongside rousing takes on FM radio crowd-pleasers such as R.E.M.'s Losing My Religion and Don Henley's Boys of Summer.

The frontman brings equal reverence to deeper cuts. Stand-outs include his deconstructions of Light Pollution by Bright Eyes and the politically charged Way of The World by Max Q — the one-off side project between Michael Hutchence and Ollie Olsen.

Meant as a palette cleanser between Fanning Dempsey National Park and the next Something For Kate record, Shotgun Karaoke II is more than just rewarding fan service. And if the rave reception to his recent tour is anything to go by, folks would happily ask Dempsey for one more hour and round of drinks in the proverbial karaoke booth.

For fans of: Like A Version, Live Lounge, Something For Kate

• Al Newstead

Cosmic Psychos — I Really Like Beer

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I Really Like Beer is a Cosmic Psychos album. That means it's loud, brash, profane, funny and better when played at levels that will test your relationship with your neighbours.

It's nothing we haven't heard from the iconic garage rock band many times over in the past 40-odd years. Mad Macka's guitar snarls with tooth-ripping ferocity, Ross Knight's blunt charm shines, and the rhythms pummel like a sledgehammer, guaranteeing neck pain for days.

The title gives a little of the subject matter away, as do song titles such as I Like Beer, I Really Really Really Like Beer, and This Could Be The Greatest Beer of My Life. But frontman Ross Knight has range: Do It Again wrestles with ageing, Fly In My Shed nails the everyday irritant, and 10 Can Trip takes aim at Melbourne with classic Psychos bite.

They know their lane, and they tear down it full throttle. If you're a fan — and you should be — this kind of reliability is comforting.

For fans of: Ramones, Hard-Ons, The Chats

• Dan Condon

Thatboykwame — In A Matter of Time

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Thatboykwame (formerly Kwame) has been steadily releasing music since a chance encounter saw him rock a stage with A$AP Ferg in 2016, going viral in the process. Then, he keenly capitalised on that moment with sharp and accessible releases.

Nine years later, thatboykwame finds himself in the middle of a new moment. On his second album, In A Matter Of Time, the rapper-producer has dialled in on the 808-driven sound that provided the foundation for some of his earlier hits, such as WOW, though this time around there's a reflective and mature melancholy that underlines his writing and production choices.

The record feels like a measured step forward rather than a pivot, capturing an artist who's lived a little, questioned a lot, and folded that growth back into his craft.

Across the project, thatboykwame balances introspection with immediacy, pairing tight hooks with production that hits hard while leaving room for vulnerability.

For fans of: Big Sean, Isaiah Rashad, Mac Miller

• James Brennan

Teen Jesus & The Jean Teasers — Glory

Spotify | YouTube | Apple Music

Everyone already knows Teen Jesus & the Jean Teasers have the best name in the business. And anyone who caught them opening for Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, Pixies or at their own show knows how good they are live.

Second album Glory delivers on years of promise: a lean, all-killer rock ‘n’ roll record that grabs you by the collar and doesn't let go.

From the first chorus of Watching Me Leave, their knack for twisting familiar hooks into fresh shapes is clear. That unpredictability is Glory's secret weapon — they never settle for the easy turn.

Thoughtful closer Wonderful ends the ride too soon, but at under 30 minutes, you'll hit repeat without thinking twice.

For fans of: Arctic Monkeys, Elastica, The Beths

• Dan Condon

CLEWS — What's Not To Love?

Spotify | YouTube | Apple Music

They've been Unearthed favourites for years, putting out impressive EPs and touring with Ocean Alley, Tash Sultana and Holy Holy. And now CLEWS — Mollymook-born siblings Lily and Grace Richardson — have put out their debut album.

Animated by their pitch-perfect harmonies and quiet-loud '90s alt-rock dynamics, the record begins with The End (Of Us), which pivots on a devastating moment: imagining a blissful future that could've been — house, baby, and all — right before your beau breaks up with you.

"One kiss take me out, start a joint back account / Your dad thinks I'm funny and my mother calls you honey, wow! Don't you remember just how good that would be?"

Juxtaposing fairytale expectations with cold, cruel reality, it's the first killer lyric in a record stocked with sharply drawn details regarding romance with a nuanced feminist perspective.

From lovers that "pull in to pash at the petrol station" to a fruitless relationship that's like being "drained empty like a blue vein at a blood bank", these songs can be simultaneously head-over-heels joyful and heartbreaking.

In every moment, CLEWS are sure-footed in their sensitivity, epitomised by the stand-out I Feel Harder, as sombre verses explode into a crunchy, cathartic chorus: "Now everything that I've felt, I feel harder."

For fans of: boygenius, Middle Kids, Momma

• Al Newstead

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