Anthony Callea on his new album Thirty and partner Tim Campbell

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Anthony Callea on his new album Thirty and partner Tim Campbell

Cameron Adams・National Features・April 25, 2013 6:51AM

New direction: Anthony Callea has moved away from the realm of pop for his new album.

ANTHONY Callea's new album, Thirty, features a range of new songs from the crooner but none more special than the one he wrote for his partner, actor and singer Tim Campbell.

"The premise of My All is someone coming into your life and giving love a second chance. The first time I recorded I'll Be the One a few years ago, I played it to Tim and he started crying. When I played him the new version for this album, he bawled as well. I'm not good with emotion. I didn't know what to do. Do I hand him a tissue? I can communicate much better in song than in a conversation. But that's a beautiful sign when someone so close to you has that reaction to a song you wrote."

The video for My All, which is yet to be released, also features a cameo from Campbell, now starring in House Husbands. "I said, 'It's written about you, why can't you be in the clip?'," Callea says.

"It's a simple video, it's a really beautiful clip that captures what the song is about. And it's made a few people who've already seen it cry - for the right reasons - and that's the best compliment."

A version of the song, which Callea wrote several years ago, can be found on YouTube. Watch the video above.

Callea's new album, Thirty, not only celebrates his milestone birthday, but reaching a point where he can make a record on his terms.

It has covers he grew up singing - Oleta Adams' Get Here, Luther Vandross' Dance With My Father, Cheap Trick's The Flame, Backstreet Boys' The Perfect Fan, Will Young's Leave Right Now and Whitney & Mariah's When You Believe.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 07:  Anthony Callea and Tim Campbell arrive at the 2013 Logie Awards at the Crown Palladium on April 7, 2013 in Melbourne, Australia.  (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Throw in a Michael Bolton song and two Italian covers, and it's a major shift from Callea's last release, a dance pop EP.

"I threw the concept of being cool out of the window making this record," Callea says.

"With age, you know your strengths and weaknesses. I didn't set out to make a record that's commercially cool or worry about what people think I should do. I did what I wanted. Yes, there's some ballads on there, and some songs in Italian, but it's not just an album full of The Prayer again; I won't do that again, it's been done."

The album opts for vocal emotion over sonic perfection, as well as live strings.

"People have already said, 'Oh you've left commercial dance pop behind for this', but I don't regret anything," Callea says.

"I paid for that (dance) EP myself. I'm not going to throw thousands of dollars away on something I didn't feel was right. I had to get it out of my system.

"With this album, when you love a song and it means something to you, it's not difficult. There were no rules, no fighting. I wasn't worried about getting songs on radio or which demographic they were for."

HEAR Thirty (ABC/Universal), out tomorrow.

Anthony Callea. Picture: Julie Kiriacoudis Source: Herald Sun

SEE Anthony Callea, IN-STORE APPEARANCES: 

Melbourne: Westfield Knox, Saturday, 1pm
NSW: Westfield Liverpool May 2, 5.30pm, Castle Towers, Castle Hill, May 4, 1pm
Brisbane: Queen Street Mall, May 9, 5pm
SA: Westfield Marion, May 11, 1pm

LIVE PERFORMANCES:

Melbourne: The Palms at Crown, July 13. Tickets – Ticketek
NSW: Bankstown Sports Club, July 26. Bankstownsports.com, Dee Why RSL July 27
deewhyrsl.com.au, South Sydney Juniors August 2, thejuniors.com.au, Belmont 16 Foot Sailing Club Newcastle, August 3, 16s.com.au
QLD: Broncos League Club August 9, broncosleagues.com.au, Twin Town Resort, August 10, twintowns.com.au