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World upon a Shelf

by Cahill Kelly

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about

Melbourne indie-folk-rock revivalist Cahill Kelly's first offering of his debut album Classical and Cool Jazz, is the single ‘World upon a Shelf’, a track filled with swagger and sentimental musing. Using objects on his mantelpiece as a source of lyrical inspiration, ‘World upon a Shelf’ sees Kelly reflecting on the notion that all our encounters throughout life contain profound meaning beneath the surface.

“When writing ‘World upon a Shelf’, I was trying to see if I could write a song about even the most mundane of subjects while still evoking some kind of narrative and emotion,” says Kelly.

“At the time I had a number of sentimental trinkets from various countries on a mantelpiece above my desk. I ended up finding deeper meaning in the song, reflecting on the idea that everything we come across in life, be it places, people, objects, ideas, once you take a deeper look there’s always so much more to the story.”

Originally from far North Queensland, a young Kelly grew up on a diet of Crowded House and Tom Petty. Later, he channelled his heroes in his first musical projects, The Broken Needles and Willow Darling. With the latter seeing him assume the role of a natural frontman, Kelly developed a knack for writing songs about everyday life with sparkling detail and depth, delivered with casual grace.

lyrics

Somewhere hanging overhead
There’s a plane diving through the dust
While Audrey and Ganesha,
Stare back and forth longingly with lust
Behind the dim orange glow
Of a fading salt rock lamp
Shadows dance on a Celtic stone from New Zealand,
Painted by hand

The plastic jaguar on the prowl
Through Egyptian tombs for organs and bowels
There is a world upon the shelf
And you’ll find it if you magnify any place else

Wooden fans from Indonesia blow a gale of hail across the miniature globe
A graveyard of eyes that sit upon the hill
A dying art with nobody home
All of the ginger wine
And cascading candle wax
Can’t eclipse the Cambodian wizard puzzle box panic attack

The week from hell came to stay for a while
Turned up one day with a suitcase and a smile
For the world upon the shelf
You’ll find it if you magnify anyplace else

No thoughtful call ahead to let me know
By the look of my face I had given up my ghost
For the world upon the shelf

credits

released May 5, 2021
Written by Cahill Kelly

Cahill Kelly - vocals, guitar, keys, percussion
Lain Pocock - bass, drums

Recorded and mixed by Stive Collins at Home, 2020/2021. Mastered by Shane Jarvie-Kohn. Artwork by Gil Gilmour.

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Cheersquad Records & Tapes image

Cheersquad Records & Tapes Melbourne, Australia

Wally “Meanie” Kempton took the plunge in 2018 and launched his record label Cheersquad Records & Tapes. Since then he has released new material from acts such as The Meanies, The Hard-Ons, Chris Wilson, Phil Jamieson, Seasick Steve, Wanita, Minibikes, The Rinehearts, Immigrant Union and T. Wilds, along with limited edition vinyl of older material from Snout, Even and The Glory Box and more. ... more

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