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Fine life

For such a prolific songwriter, it's a bit ironic that Paul Kelly names his new album after the one song he didn't write. Life Is Fine has lyrics by the poet Langston Hughes. That oddity aside, the album maintains the Australian's typically high standards. It showcases Kelly's ability to display depth and range in seemingly effortless fashion. At one end of the musical spectrum, Finally Something Good and Josephina have a light, infectious pop touch, and at the other, My Man's Got a Cold is raw, percussive blues. Numbers such as the rocking Rising Moon and Firewood and Candles reveal Kelly's gift for narrative storytelling, while I Smell Trouble is mesmerizingly evocative. And on Leah: The Sequel, Kelly again looks to another writer, but instead of borrowing words, he uses Roy Orbison's Leah as inspiration for a tale of his own, which turns out to be nearly as beguiling as the original.