Close Ups

Australian singer Stephen Cummings is one of Australia's most respected and critically acclaimed artists despite a lack of chart-topping hits during his long and successful career. Cummings began with Melbourne's the Pelaco Brothers during the mid-'70s. He then fronted the Sports for six years before they disbanded in 1981. Cummings' debut single, "We All Make Mistakes," was released in January 1983 and a debut dance-oriented album, Senso, in August 1984. A non-album single, "What Am I Going to Do?," was released in August 1985, before the more laid-back This Wonderful Life in September 1986. In 1987, he collaborated with ex-Sports guitarist Andrew Pendlebury for the single "She Set Fire to the House."

Another low-key outing, Lovetown, was released in January 1988, and Cummings formed Stephen Cummings Lovetown to tour. His third album, A New Kind of Blue, won the 1989 Australian Record Industry Award (ARIA) for Best Adult Contemporary Album. Good Humour, released in 1990, marked a return to his earlier dance style. His 1992 outing, Unguided Tour, produced a more rock-driven sound. Steve Kilbey of the Church produced Cummings' next two albums, Falling Swinger (1994) and Escapist (1996). In between albums, Cummings recorded a duet with Toni Childs called "Fell From a Great Height." In 1996, Cummings' first novel, Wonder Boy, was published followed by a compilation album in 1997, Puppet Pauper Pirate Poet Pawn & King. Cummings is also the voice and co-writer behind the TV advertisement I Feel Better Now, a popular Australian advertisement for health insurers Medibank Private.

“When I left the Sports, I left the Sports. That was it. I left the songs behind and I never looked back. Now I've done 13 solo albums I kinda thought, 'I wanna bring those songs back into my life'. Elvis Costello does it. Bob Dylan does it. Why am I not doing it?”

Stephen Cummings isn't being immodest by claiming such distinguished company. Like some of rock's greatest artists, he's a writer obsessed with the ongoing redefinition of ageless emotions and scenarios. For nearly 30 years, his work has channelled a restless creative spirit through one of Australia's most acclaimed and distinctive voices.

CLOSE-UPS is a surprisingly affectionate return to his back catalogue in a spontaneous acoustic setting. By recalling songs he hasn't played in 25 years and reconsidering some of his finest moments as a solo artist, Stephen Cummings has arguably arrived at his definitive album.

“To me it was about rearranging and reclaiming the songs,” he says. “A good pop song doesn't date. All Neil Finn's really good songs, Beatles songs, they sound great on an acoustic guitar. I wanted to see how mine stood up.

"To me, How Come and Strangers On a Train sound like they were written yesterday. Live Work and Play, I thought 'This sounds like Porno For Pyros or something, a real modern rock record'."

Suspicious Minds, one of four songs from the Sports' benchmark Don't Throw Stones LP of '79, is one of several recast in the haunting twilight mood of a mature artist. Then again, the breezy nylon strings of Twist Senorita revisit the band's first EP of '77 with the freshness of innocence itself.

Later classics – She Set Fire To The House, When Love Comes Back To Haunt You, Walk Softly and Carry a Big Stick – are timeless stories that reveal more in the retelling, like pictures showing new details under different light.

“Doing it was a real blast, I have to admit,” Stephen says. “We did it in about three days, played it live so every track has the immediacy of an actual performance. It has that urgency so many records seem to lack these days.”

CLOSE-UPS was recorded at Joe Camilleri's Woodstock Studios in Melbourne with long time collaborators Shane O'Mara on guitars and Rebecca Barnard on harmony vocals, plus Howard Cairns (bass), Peter Jones (drums) and James Black (electric piano).