Paul Kelly

We can’t be too emphatic about it: This Australian is one of the best and sturdiest singer/songwriters around (and, for all you Entertainment Tonight devotees—Russell Crowe’s favorite pop star!), even if he has never managed more than the most meager cult status here in the states. Kelly’s songs have a sneaky, brooding force that grows as you live with them. In a voice low and craggy and sometimes ineffably sweet, he snatches up incidental moments—passing memories of childhood, love, betrayal—and breathes life into them again. And his new record, Nothing But a Dream, is one of his finest. (See also: Post, Gossip, So Much Water So Close to Home.) If you don’t see Kelly you’ll kick yourself—or we’ll come over and do it for you.