Something for Paul as frontman indulges himself with solo album

SOMETHING For Kate singer-songwriter Paul Dempsey is enjoying having everything his way on his solo album and tour.

A FUNNY thing happened on the way to Paul Dempsey making his second solo album. He had originally intended to get cracking on it when his band, Something For Kate, wrapped up touring their last album in late 2013.

“And then we realised, oh, hang on, 2014 is our 20th year together as a band, so then that whole year got swallowed up with a 20th anniversary tour and a book and a film and all this other kind of stuff,” Dempsey laughs.

“So I was halfway through last year ­before I got the free time to start seriously thinking about this record.”

Paul Dempsey has enjoyed experimenting with sound on his second solo outing.

Another year later and Strange Loop is out, and living up to its name with surreal sonic experimentation.

“This time I actually had a room in our house, finally, where I’ve got a whole bunch of stuff set up – a whole lot of toys and a whole lot of recording software where you can pretty much produce any sound that you can possibly imagine,” Dempsey enthuses.

But despite the power and potential of music software, Dempsey is careful to keep it real. “I do like having access to every possible keyboard sound and every possible guitar amp,” he says.

“With the technology, I really could’ve made this record at home in my room, but once I have the songs written I still very much feel that pull to go into a proper ­studio with a great engineer and record it with real instruments and good microphones and all that kind of stuff.”

While he enjoys the “creative tug of war” that goes with being principal songwriter and lead singer for Something For Kate, Dempsey also likes being able to call the shots as a solo artist.

“When I do solo stuff it really is solo; I play all the instruments as well,” he says.

“I love being in a band where it’s a ­collaboration and it’s the product of three people, but it is also really nice sometimes to … have everything my way – play the drums exactly the way I hear them in my head, and play the bass and the keyboards and the guitars exactly the way I hear them in my head.”

Dempsey has been vocal on political issues in the past, famously calling then immigration minister Philip Ruddock a “stamp-collecting motherf--k--” when the issue of asylum seekers first flared up under the Howard government around the turn of the last century.

And to Dempsey’s horror, the plight of refugees seems even worse now than it was back then.

“I never thought I’d see a day where the Labor Party was proposing things that are to the right of Philip Ruddock. I find that deeply shocking,” he says.

A political junkie who admits to listening to Question Time in the car, Dempsey concedes politics hasn’t informed as much of his songwriting of late.

“Politics is definitely something that’s on my mind a lot, but on this current album, anyway, it doesn’t feel like there’s as many blank political statements,” he says. “But then again there’s a song on there called Lifetime Supply that feels to me very much a political song, but in the personal dimension.”

Dempsey also finds himself jaded by the current state of play in politics, which he attributes to the 24-hour news cycle and always-on social media sphere.

“I’ve been surprised at how (Opposition Leader) Bill Shorten has been able to increase his popularity almost in proportion to how much (Prime Minister) Malcolm Turnbull has been able to ­decrease his popularity. And I don’t trust either of them, frankly,” he says.

“The one thing about politics in this country is that I’ve really grown to resent what a two-headed beast it is.”

Strange Loop (EMI) is out now. Paul Dempsey’s tour continues, dates at his official website

Dempsey’s political views are bubbling under the surface.

Originally published as Something for Paul as frontman indulges himself with solo album