An ode to Paul Dempsey

Early in his career, rightly or wrongly, Paul Dempsey was considered A Very Serious Young Man.

A reluctant frontman, thrust before the mic out of necessity by his bandmates in Something For Kate, Dempsey came across as someone uncomfortable in the limelight, only fulfilling his lead singer duties because it meant he could live out his dream of playing music, but unsure how to deal with the bells and whistles that came with it.

He wrote earnest songs and sung them with an equally earnest voice that's probably the most distinctive and instantly recognisable Aussie voice outside of Jimmy Barnes.

But somewhere between the somewhat monochromatic debut album of his band Something For Kate and the present day, Paul Dempsey blossomed into an affable genius of the Australian music scene, with a charming stage presence to match his remarkable talents.

No longer the Very Serious Young Man, Dempsey has become many other things - Aus music elder statesman, extraordinarily ranged vocalist, under-rated songwriter, equally under-rated guitarist, charismatic frontman, and an alt-rock icon for those in the know.

But perhaps the most unexpected transformation is Dempsey's appointment as Australia's King of Covers.

Maybe we should've known this was coming back in 1998 when Something For Kate covered Jebediah's Harpoon on a split EP, or Duran Duran's Ordinary World as a b-side to The Astronaut in 2000, or even their much-loved cover of Truly by the relatively unknown American band Hazel on SFK's Intermission EP.

But it didn't become truly apparent until later, and the exact moment differs depending on who you are. Maybe it was covering David Bowie's Ashes To Ashes on the Moving Right Along single in 2004. Maybe it was his astonishing cover of Miley Cyrus' Wrecking Ball on Triple M, or doing Middle Kids' Edge Of Town on triple j. Maybe it was those closing credit duets on Rockwiz.

Either way, it's all proof he is the righful heir to the throne (who he overthrew, I do not know). In those covers and many more,  Dempsey had unlocked something - a profound gift for picking wonderfully melodic songs and rendering them in a manner that was every bit as earnest as his original material. Some of them have been pop hits - the type that would have been readily dismissed by those who fell in love with Something For Kate from the moment they heard Captain (Million Miles An Hour) or Subject To Change in the late '90s - while the others have been uber-cool deep cuts, opening up whole new musical worlds for many of his grateful fans.

This has been his real talent as a cover artist - the ability to sound like he means it, no matter what he's singing. From Cher's If I Could Turn Back Time to Grant Lee Buffalo's Mockingbirds, from INXS' Never Tear Us Apart to Hüsker Dü's Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely, from Michael Jackson's Billie Jean to Middle Kids' Edge Of Town, from Hall & Oates' Out Of Touch to Wilco's Jesus Etc., from Miley Cyrus' Wrecking Ball to The Smith's There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, each song is brought to life with heart-rending honesty, despite coming from disparate ends of the mainstream/alternative spectrum and delivered by a man who didn't write them. 

It's easy to just put it down to that voice. Dempsey distinctive vocals are smoky and sincere, helping him sing it like he means it, with that huskiness adding a raw tinge that helps sell the emotion. And those who don't like Something For Kate typically say it's because of his voice. Apparently it's a love-it-or-hate-it voice - the coriander of vocals.

But his voice is a goddamned weapon - more habanero than coriander. In his chest voice, he boasts a Christ Cornell-like range. He calls it "stunt singing", but that's classic Demspsey Dismissiveness - the ability to sing-scream the middle eight or key change in If I Could Turn Back Time or the chorus of Boys Of Summer is incredible and not something to be dismissed as a mere "stunt".

Holy shit, when he bursts into the chorus of Sheryl Crowe's If It Makes You Happy...

... that's a helluva range. That's spine-tingling shit right there.

Somewhere between Something For Kate's debut Elsewhere For Eight Minutes and their second record Beautiful Sharks, Dempsey's songwriting and indeed the whole of SFK burst into technicolour. Along with this, Dempsey's voice gained extra hues. By third album Echolalia, he was starting to figure exactly where his voice could go - that falsetto on opening track Stunt Show wasn't something we'd really heard before, but it was a sign of things to come.

Those who can't stand his voice will never get it, but they're also missing out on his incredible guitarwork, his surprising under-stated wit (sample lyric: "You're not the first to think that everything has been thought before"), and his generally remarkable musicality. 

All of this is a long-winded way of saying Dempsey's covers gig at the Palais in Melbourne on November 22 was revelatory. The whole time I had to keep reminding myself "this is just a covers gig - they aren't even his songs!", as one tune after another was brought to life in hi-res emotions by just one man and a guitar. It was powerful - more powerful than it had any right to be. 

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The 3,000-strong crowd ate it up, and Dempsey obviously knows he's discovered a form of alchemy, as dismissive of his own abilities as he might be. You don't do two covers albums and sell-out tours playing nothing but other people's songs without realising you might have a bit of a gift for this.

It's highly unlikely anyone in the audience wasn't already a SFK fan. But on the off-chance they weren't, they will be now. And there are people out there who still can't get past that voice and, well, all I can do is pity them.

Flow

This is a version of a review airing on ABC Victoria's Statewide Mornings program on December 11, 2025.

(G) ★★★★

Director: Gints Zilbalodis.

Finally. The gritty reboot of Madagascar we've all been waiting for.

Flow, in case you have forgotten, is the little Latvian film that beat out Pixar, Dreamworks, and Aardman to win the Best Animated Film Oscar back in March.

With no humans, no words, and no significant plot to speak of, it's an astonishingly beautiful film that shows us how effective simple storytelling can be, and reminds us how animated movies truly are a balm for the soul.

The story, in so much as there is one, is of a cat forced to give up its solitary life when rising floodwaters submerge its home. In a search for dry land, the cat ends up in a boat alongside a capybara, a ringtailed lemur, a Labrador and a secretary bird, drifting on a new ocean that seemingly covers most of the world.

Though the film is not without its drama, it's a quiet tale told at a gentle pace, yet it's never short of engrossing. It leaves plenty of questions unanswered to ensure we get a cat's-eye view of the world, and a similar level of understanding. Flow is quite clever in its ability to get you into the cat's head, and if the cat doesn't understand it, then you probably won't either.

The animation style is beautiful, and not a million miles from The Wild Robot, in that it covers its CG in painterly brushstrokes, except that Flow has an endearing added layer of pixelly imperfections. The end result has a picture book quality to it, yet is still immersive and filled with raw power.

One of the many amazing qualities of Flow is its appeal. Young kids will be mesmerised by its animal stars, while adults will be equally entranced. And don't be surprised if you find yourself trying to unravel some of the film's big unanswered questions long after the credits have rolled.

Train Dreams

This is a version of a review airing on ABC Victoria's Statewide Mornings program on December 11, 2025.

(M) ★★★★★

Director: Clint Bentley.

Cast: Joel Edgerton, Felicity Jones, Kerry Condon, William H. Macy, Nathaniel Arcand, Will Patton.

"We should really get around to inventing chairs, don't you think?"

Sometimes it's hard to explain what a movie's about. Train Dreams is certainly one of the harder films to sell to a prospective watcher, but it's easily one of the best films of 2025. Maybe just go with that.

But for those desperate for more info, Train Dreams is the story of one man's life - Robert Grainier (Edgerton), an orphan who grows up to be a lumberjack in the first half of the 20th century in the American north-west. 

But in a more realistic sense, it's about the violent punctuations that mark a life, and the interconnectedness of all things. It's about love and death and grief and the meaning of life. It's about the tough existence of itinerant loggers, and about men trying to make sense of their place in an everchanging world. It's about how a man comes from nothing and quietly goes about his life in his own way. It's kind of about everything, and it's beautiful.

Stunningly shot by Bentley and cinematographer Adolpho Veloso, and soulfully scored by The National's Bryce Dessner, this is an engrossing and powerful tale that lulls you, then hits you, repeatedly. Its moments of tranquility and thoughtfulness are truly lovely and wonderful, right up to the point you get steamrolled by a random horrible moment. But hey, that's life, and hey, that's kinda what makes Train Dreams so incredible and poignant.

Central to it all is Our Joel. Edgerton has always been a real talent in everything from The Great Gatsby to Animal Kingdom, but this is the best thing he's done that I've seen. His performance has its loud moments but so much of it is behind the eyes (and matched by an eloquent narration by Patton). Edgerton is ably supported by Jones, Condon and Macy in particular, but really it feels like a one-hander, so quietly engrossing is the character of Grainier, and Edgerton rises to the occasion magnificently. 

While it's hard to sell this Everyman tale to people, there is no doubt this is one of the best films of 2025, and it will stick with you long after Nick Cave's sepuchral tones ring out on the title track.

Sinners

This is a version of a review airing on ABC Victoria's Statewide Mornings program on December 11, 2025.

(MA15+) ★★★★★

Director: Ryan Coogler.

Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O'Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Benson Miller, Delroy Lindo, Peter Dreimanis, Lola Kirke, Li Jun Li, Yao.

"Yeah we look like twins, but that's only because we don't have our hats on."

It’s tempting to liken Sinners to the Tarantino/Rodriguez collab From Dusk ‘Til Dawn; another movie of two halves that suddenly explodes into a vampyric onslaught of spurting blood.

But whereas From Dusk ‘Til Dawn sinks its teeth into you literally out of nowhere with its gear-grinding tonal shift, Sinners broods and builds, hinting at the darkness on the horizon and unseen forces simmering below the surface. When it finally sinks its teeth into you, its the peak of a crescendo, not an out-of-nowhere gimmick.

Perhaps a better comparison would be Get Out, where the theme of racism collides with the genre of horror to make something astonishing and fresh. The result in both Sinners and Get Out is a movie that will stand the test of time thanks to refreshing mixes of new elements to create tension, scares, depths and even laughs in an excitingly unique way.

In Sinners, Jordan stars as twin brothers Smoke and Stack, who return to the Deep South in 1932 to set up a juke joint. Everything seems perfect for opening night... until some uninvited guests turn up.

A truly cool soundtrack filled with Delta blues, Irish folk, and other more modern flourishes helps the heavy atmosphere of the film build like a storm that's waiting to burst, and when it finally does, the downpour is blood red. It is a film of two halves, but the tonal shift never feels wrong or off. Coogler does an astonishing job of keeping the underlying darkness consistent, and foreshadowing the increasing magical realism perfectly.

The moments of startling violence that come with the film's vampyric pay-off are very effective, but so are the character moments. Everyone in the story - from the Smokestack twins to their forgotten lovers Mary (Steinfeld) and Annie (Mosaku), from upcoming blues prodigy Preacherboy (Caton) to jaded blues legend Delta Slim (Lindo) gets their moment to shine.

The performances are top notch, especially Jordan, Steinfeld and Mosaku, but it's hard to fault a single thing in this tasty new spin on the age-old vampire movie. 

Zootopia 2

This is a version of a review airing on ABC Victoria's Statewide Mornings program on December 11, 2025.

(PG) ★★★★

Director: Jared Bush & Byron Howard.

Cast: (voices of) Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Ke Huy Quan, Fortune Feimster, Andy Samberg, David Strathairn, Shakira, Idris Elba, Patrick Warburton, Danny Trejo.

Disney's Titanic was predictably cutesy.

The original Zootopia was a smart, snappy adult adventure dressed up in kids' clothing. Tackling racism, prejudice, equality and stereotyping, it merged its sharp themes with Looney Tunes-esque chases and a crim-cop pairing straight out of an '80s actioner. It's basically a cutesy version of 48 Hours, but better and deeper. Kinda.

It also boasted a marvellous setting and a host of great characters, especially its stars, the crafty crim fox Nick (Bateman) and the determined cop bunny Judy (Goodwin).

And second time around it's almost as good. The setting still sizzles with opportunity, the chemistry of its fox-rabbit pairing continues to zing, and the themes of prejudice and othering remain strong. It's also a very grown-up-friendly adventure - it's a buddy-cop movie, like something straight out of the '80s. It's basically a cutesy version of Tango & Cash. Ok, not really, but you get what I'm saying.

This time Nick and Judy are the hottest cops on the force, having busted the bad guys in the previous film. But their inherent differences are affecting their relationship, and things get worse when they begin investigating a snake - a much-maligned species with no real home in Zootopia.

The first Zootopia is a tough act to follow, but this is pretty great. It could never be as sparkling and fresh as the original, but it's as good as it could be. The mystery is engaging and entertaining, even if you pick the twist, and its message of equality is as timeless as ever.

Ke Huy Quan is a great addition as the snake, and Strathairn was born to voice animated villains. But it's all about Judy and Nick, and Batemen and Goodwin are fantastic yet again. The ups-and-downs of the relationship are beautifully played out across a nicely paced script. 

There is enough colour and movement to entertain the younger kids who can't follow the intricacies of the plot - it's not every kids movie that has property development and racism as key story points. The only other one I can think of is Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. But much like that 1988 classic, Zootopia 2 is taking an adult genre and throwing it an all-ages audience with great success. There are hints at a third film, which can't come soon enough.