- “Urban & Western” is the name John Kennedy came up with in the '80s to describe his brand of music. It’s a good name too, because not only does it describe the not-quite-country sound he has been perfecting for several decades now; it also captures one of the defining characteristics of his music – it is songs not just made in cities, but frequently about cities.

The man who started playing music in early '80’s Brisbane retro-rockers JFK and The Cuban Crisis narrated his exit from the Sunshine State in the song Hey Steven; and then for his most famous songs in John Kennedy’s Love Gone Wrong he serenaded the inner-western Sydney suburbs where he ended up.

The relationship between the artist and urban space is explored again in JFK and the Midlife Crisis, intertwined into a country-rock concept album about a middle-aged musician reflecting on his past.

If you think the concept sounds awfully close to John Kennedy’s actual life, you’d be right. Kennedy specialises not just in autobiography but reflexivity – songs that self-reference. The album title is a pun on Kennedy’s first band, the song Dear Steven would seem to be a reference to one of his earlier songs, while Strawberry Hills Forever is a reminiscence of the Sydney '80’s indie scene. Bands mentioned include The Scientists, The Triffids, and “JFK’s pop sounds”.

That song is also one of a few winking references to inner-western Sydney suburbs. These songs don’t just namecheck suburbs though – they explore how we relate to the places we live. From St Peters to Kings Cross (which of course is twenty minutes on the bus) is on the surface a nostalgic look back on the party years of your early twenties – but of course Kings Cross itself is now “a world away from where we used to play”, especially post lockout laws. Gentrification of the inner west is measured in the ability to go op-shopping – and “Peter says Enmore Rd ain’t what it used to be”.

Can this album only appeal to people who’ve lived in the suburbs he sings about? As someone who also holds a strong connection to those places, I guess I'm the wrong person to ask. But I think it’s fascinating to seemingly turn your back on universal appeal and make music so tied to a physical place. It’s pushing against the tide as our lives move more and more into cyberspace – both as individuals and in the music world, where playing your local venue has been replaced as the road to success by hoping to get a viral video or a review from a hip blog. This album almost certainly won’t be a worldwide hit, but John Kennedy has once again proved he is the king (on King St) of Urban & Western.

- Andy Paine.