Sarah Blasko "We did try and make the music really alive," explains Sarah Blasko of her third album, 'As Day Follows Night'. "In moments it's really playful, but really expressive. I think that's why it's important for each of the instruments to be really clearly heard, because then you hear the character - you hear the movement of the bass player's hands down the neck of the double bass, and you hear all these additional sounds and things that give you the feeling of being in the room. I think that was really important." As such, there's a jazz-like feel to the album, as opposed to the relative pop sheen found on her debut. It's interesting that Blasko wanted to focus on the instrumentation in this way, as it's another release that she's had which doesn't feature her regular touring band. As such, the songs will obviously be interpreted differently when taken on the road and performed at the upcoming Laneway Festival. Some thought was given to make the album with her group, and recording it in Australia. "I was pretty close to making that decision," she says, "but I was going overseas and I thought I should keep my mind open and maybe the idea of working with someone overseas and not make my decision yet." One thing lead to another, and suddenly Blasko was working with Bj�rn Yttling of Peter, Bj�rn & John. "I felt pretty convinced after meeting him and hearing his ideas for my own record, and I thought in the end it was too good to pass up. It's a difficult decision to make because you do want to work with the people who are so committed to what you're doing, but you have to make decisions that are not necessarily selfish but you have to follow your gut feeling. I had a gut feeling about it that I should go there, and it wasn't really affordable to take anyone with me. So I went and did it myself." She deliberately chose her collaborator this time around because he wasn't familiar with her oeuvre - instead, he came into the recording experience from a fresh perspective. "It was really liberating," she enthuses, "because I think it gives you a bit more focus and makes you feel like you have a different potential if you're placed in an environment where you're not known." Blasko's first gambit, 'The Overture & The Underscore', was a promising start and its successor, 'What The Sea Wants, The Sea Shall Have' was a dense and occasionally convoluted head-trip of stunning moments. Now, 'As Day Follows Night' finds her opening up her sound, leaving plenty of space around her mesmerising vocals, and delivering the sort of songs that seem destined to take her to wider audiences. The album began its life over two years ago, coming off the back of touring 'What The Sea Wants, The Sea Shall Have'. "The first two or three songs were probably written at that time," she explains, but the majority of the album was penned throughout an intensive six or seven month period in 2008. "I was writing music for Bell Shakespeare at the same time as well," Blasko reveals, "and I guess I finished writing the album in December of last year, and then began recording it in February." For the third time in a row, she ventured overseas to record the album. But the marked difference with this release is that she did so without regular cohort and musical foil Martin F. Cranny, instead finding herself excited to be making a release in a much more individual way, albeit with the assistance of Yttling. "I like to make the recording experience into a bit of an adventure," she claims, "and when you do that it's all you're focussed on - you don't come home and pay your phone bill. The whole experience becomes about the record and I think that's something that I really enjoy about going away. I don't know if I will always do it, but I think that - particularly this time - it served me well." Sarah Blasko performs at the Laneway Festival in the Fowler's Live Courtyard on Friday 5 February 'As Day Follows Night' is out now on Dew Process through Universal.  |
Issue 483
Features
