INTERVIEW: Natalie Imbruglia returns with new album 'Firebird': "Being fragile can be your biggest strength and this is what the firebird symbolises - the balance of fragility and strength."
Interview: Jett Tattersall
Image: Simon Procter
It has been almost 25 years since Natalie Imbruglia first broke onto the music charts with her massive global hit single ‘Torn’. After a period away from music struggling with writers’ block and self-doubt she today returns with Firebird her first album of original material in 12 years.
The album is more than just a musical ‘return’ from Imbruglia, it is the emergence of an artist finding peace with herself and hitting her creative stride, in turn creating some of the best music of her career. Firebird sees a sonic experimentation that has never been heard as clearly on any of her previous releases and despite there being no single, instantly definable genre, the album still remains a cohesive whole. ‘Nothing Missing’ offers powerful guitar-piano rock, while ‘What It Feels Like’ is inflected with synths, and second single ‘Maybe It’s Great’ is probably what you would never expect to hear from Imbruglia – a rousing, 1980s-influenced dancefloor bop. Elsewhere, ‘Just Like Old Times’ rolls along with a warm country heart, and the title track, which closes the album, is a gorgeous, otherworldly piano ballad.
Full of warmth, energy and joy, Firebird is an absolute treat and ranks of one of the best albums to be released this year. We recently caught up with Natalie to find out more.
Hi Natalie it is so delightful it is to speak to you today. How are things in your world?
I'm really good. Things are very busy over here with the album release, but I'm really, really good. It's just great to have some new music in the pipeline. After a long period of writer's block, writing this album has been a big achievement.
it is absolutely incredible, and of course, the first original album since Come to Life. It's so beautiful and such an eclectic body of work. How does it feel to have it out, is there a sense of release to it or is there some trepidation to it?
Oh gosh no. I'm so into this record, I really don't care what anyone else thinks. It's nice to get to an age and to a place where I was in such creative flow. These songs are so special to me, and I'm really proud of them, so it's exciting. I don't think I've ever been as confident on the release of an album. Not about commercial success, just about feeling these songs are going to reach people and comfort people and that they're going to dance to them or they're going to cry to them. It's just a nice feeling. It's why I have always loved doing what I do, I'm just excited for people to have it so it can be theirs now.
There’s such a connection and integrity about your music. What is it about your music that just makes people feel like you're doing it for them?
It's a good question. I think that I realised a long time ago that my gift is I'm a communicator more than a singer, I'm clearly not a musician. I have a gift of being able to communicate emotion in a particular way that lands, and so all my songwriting sessions are driven by that truth. I'm like, ‘I wouldn't say it that way, that's doesn't feel right’. I've always got this strong intention of the emotional content of the song because I feel like if it lands for me. it'll land for them. Maybe it's because I put a lot of effort into that more than whether or not it's on point with what's going on on the radio - I don't care about any of that. I want people to get that relief, or that release, from whether its ‘I'm Not Sorry’, or the epiphany from ‘Nothing's Missing’. These are quite big concepts to fit into a song, and so maybe it's that.
And I what I love about this album, is you're very clearly following your interests. So we have this 'Maybe It's Great' Flashdance feel - we all need a Flashdance moment - 'When You Love Too Much', I couldn't help but go, ‘oh, it's a lonely cowgirl song’, it is just so visual.
It's dreaming of being Bonnie Raitt you know, there's always someone or something in mind!
And I think that's wonderful. Do you think that comes from possibly working through that writer's block, or that anxiety, through a character?
I don't think it's through character but I don't restrict myself to genre. So if I want to do another kind of thing, I can do it because my voice is the thread through, I've always had that be the main thing in what I do in the story. And it's freed me to be able to put all these eclectic songs together. I co-produced this album, but it was important to work with producers that could tie that through. [Co-producers] Tim and Roy put a lot of organic electronic sounds through these songs that tied through the more acoustic bass tracks with the more pop electronic sounds. The hard part is tying it in at the end, and some songs didn't make the cut, not because they're not a hit song. but I did have a couple of songs that are singles, and subject wise, they were too out of the story. I won't go into what they're about, because they'll end up being released, but they just didn't fit this particular ‘phoenix out of the ashes’ theme of the songs.
This album was all recorded in lockdown. How was that experience for you compared to previous albums?
The timing and the synchronicity for this project has been amazing because I'm a new mum and I was able to write in the barn that I'm sitting in right now, I was able to record all the vocals and if I wanted to go and hug my son, I was like, I'll be right back. I just need to go and hug him. We had this calm about it. But also I'm quite detail oriented so because of the lockdown it extended how much time we had because the guys couldn't go off and do their American project. It meant that I could go further into the detail much to their annoyance! We were able to take our time and fine tune it. What's interesting about making music is I'm obsessive to the point where I'm handing mixes over [to the mixer] that are pretty much exactly where I want them, we go to that much detail even with our rough mixes. But once I'm done, and once everything's sitting, how I want it to sit, I don't think about it again. It's kind of like, out into the world and let the bird fly.
There's that phoenix metaphor again! Talk me through that. What are the ashes that this Firebird is rising from?
There was a relationship breakup, there was the realisation that I had to confront about possibly being a single parent. Realising that in trying to be okay, sometimes it's about letting yourself fall apart. This is what the firebird symbolises, the balance of fragility and strength. Being fragile can be your biggest strength, it's something that I've always maybe tried to fight against. Just coming into my own with songs like 'Not Sorry', it's like being unapologetic about the choices you make and who you are. And really being of an age where the wisdom is real for you, you're not just pretending you're like, ‘no, I really am owning it now.’
Natalie, lastly, before I leave you what's coming up for you? We've got your album out, what else are you excited about?
I've got a couple of gigs around the album launch, which is very exciting. We've got another single coming out, it's just brilliant. I just feel like there's such a good energy around this project and I just want to make people feel better. We've been through a shitty time with the pandemic, and if I can be a small part of giving people something to sing, it makes me feel good.
Firebird is out now via BMG. You can buy and stream here.
To keep up with all things Natalie Imbruglia you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
