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[Steve]

Alex Silveri STAFF (48 Reviews)

2009-07-23 | 19 comments | 353 views

Summary: Trading intensity for charm, Blasko's latest still leaves a light step of an impression

‘We won’t run /We will fight /All that keeps us up at night /There is far to go now /Let’s not waste a minute more’

…So sings Sarah Blasko on the lazy sunset tune of “We Won’t Run”. Careen your ears a little more, and there’s an almost conga line quality to it all too. In a strange way, it’s exactly this relaxed and resigned attitude that unconsciously becomes a running theme throughout As Day Follows Night, the Australian singer’s 3rd and long awaited LP. Why strange? Well, Blaskos’ last effort, What The Sea Wants, The Sea Will Have was a sprawling, emotionally drenched masterpiece that saw Blasko establish herself as one of Australia’s premier storytellers, ornate as it was with its lush and shimmering instrumental beauty and Blasko’s equally gorgeous vocals. And now… conga? Working this time around with Bjorn Yttling (of Peter Bjorn and John), As Day Follows Night is defiantly a completely different beast, while still remaining undoubtedly within Blasko’s distinct musical orbit. Infused with a jazzy, percussive edge and complete with the subtle bouncing of double bass backing and soft sprinkles of piano, it’s an album that prances rather than prowls, carrying itself with a lightness as yet unseen by this Australian songstress.

It’s not to say of course that Blasko has stripped back as such – songs here are still adorned with elaborate instrumental flourishes, with strings and orchestral influences abound. What’s changed though is perspective – what’s she’s done instead is to step back from the whirlwind of intensity that her earlier works captured. Songs like “Bird on A Wire” and “Lost and Defeated” swagger with a messy, tumbling character, while “Over and Over” also brings to the table one of the Blasko’s lightest moments, driven by the upbeat twinkling of a glockenspiel backing one of her most self-assured vocal efforts on the record. It’s a Blasko caught surveying the landscape, assessing the damage as it were, bristling with clam, while still remaining genuinely confident with itself among the wreckage. It’s telling too that in keeping with all this, nothing here really strikes exceptionally deep – after all, there are no real targets here to hit, buried as they are within Blasko’s oblique lyrical webs, leaving instead only themes to swing at.

Not that there aren’t bouts of self-doubt here either, and all throughout there’s a definite feeling that if Blasko pursued her emotions hard enough, the albums confident façade could simply snap in two. Take for example her sensual crooning on “Is My Baby Yours”: ‘You can’t make somebody love you/ When they’re missing somebody else’, before daring itself to ask the dreadful question over the pretty acoustic picking of baroque themed melody. So like most of what Blasko does, there’s pain beneath it all and it’s possible to hear Blasko feigning her resignation as a brew of hope and fear tumbles underneath the veneer, especially on lead single “All I Want”, which spirals along the lines of ‘I can't even understand me/ So don't think that you can help’. Those looking for a glimpse into the familiar darkness of Blasko’s past work will still find it here as well, most prominently on the album’s ghostly closer, “Night and Day”, as it suspends itself, spider like, above the motion-stopping delicacy of its wandering guitar arpeggios.

While the truth is that it doesn’t always hit the highs that Blasko has proven herself to be able to muster in the past, As Day Follows Night marks itself as being Blasko’s most charming record yet, trading intensity for a light step that will leave an impression on whomever it touches.

3.5/5

[Steve]

Sarah Blasko - As Day Follows Night.

Sharing my cityrail journeys this week has been Sarah Blasko with her new LP As Day Follows Night. Firstly I would like to ask Newcastle band The Hauntingly Beautiful Mousemoon to just become Mousemoon and hand the first portion of their moniker over to Sarah. After first listening to this album my first thought was to give her a giant hug, though she wasn't nearby.

Opening with the somewhat circus sounds of Down on Love, her lyrical tone is much peppier in this song compared to other releases or even this album, I hear a touch of what sounds like Regina Spektor in her almost. The song itself glides along up and around and is nearly a perfect selection for opening track.

Track 2, All I Want, which most of you may have heard as her first single. A sad and beautiful song providing what would be on the far end of the sad songs of love on this album. Every song on this album is in reference to love and relationships, and if all these are written on personal emotions then I may even call her a confused girl. With this song actually being actual proof that she doesn't know herself at all stating she could not love at all when if she couldn't.. this album would not exist.

The melody that travels through each song is enveloping, and the music varies constantly across the album, really showing her maturing as an artist. Track 4,Hold on My Heart is a good example, the song starts sounding more like a Mercury Rev tune, though is actually a toe tapping song showing her first glimpses of real lyrical positivity in this album (not saying mercury rev can't be..e.g. delta sun bottleneck stomp).

Here i will move to the odd subject of track order, In this album Sarah moves from lost love, to no chance of love, to careful about love, to open and full of love, to broken hearted again, in love again and ends with a song about being dumped followed by a song about dumping someone. Ok, so, if this was in true order it would make her a rather emotional wreck. Starting with the typical strong boppy opener and finishing with a ballad as so many albums tend to do makes me think they rearranged the songs based on sound not content, turning it into somewhat of a book of short stories on love that could have been a stirring novel.

That said, she is really a storyteller I just wish it wasn't so emotionally scattered. Back to the music, Track 7, Sleeper Awake is one of Sarah's favourite songs on this album, so much so that instead of making it 3½ minutes they decided on a healthy 6m18s in length. From the length of songs on the hottest 100 of all time you could obviously assume this is common practice. The song itself is worthy of her adoration, showing another level of depth to her musicality, as notable in this tune by the orchestral interludes of violin, piano and brass.

The album picks up in mood again with track 8, with the deep thumping of No Turning Back, with a jazz influence that is also present in track 9 Lost and Defeated which feels more like Sarah tripped over and awoke in Chicago in the 1930's. As you may tell by the title, another fall in emotion.

Then just as you start to feel sorrowful again, out comes the xylophone introducing Over and Over, That said, only Sarah could make a xylophone sound sad, though she does not intend to in this song. It's somewhat upbeat until she mellows it out in the chorus.

Two tunes close out the album, I Never Knew, another beautiful melodic piece, a sorrowful piece though with much more powerful emotion in her vocals, probably the most emotive she is on the entire album and it does shine out as one of the strongest tracks.

Finally Night and Day, being her comparison between her and her lover, one of a couple of songs using piano, though guitar is the most prevalent instrument on this and all songs. This is a typically haunting ballad from Sarah, which shows off her song writing strengths with some descriptive imagery backed by a dark moaning cello.

All in all I do really enjoy listening to this album, as much of a rollercoaster ride that it is, the melodies are consistently alluring and the varying styles help maintain constant interest. It is certainly a great album to listen to on the morning train when you just want to cruise and drift in and out of sleep.

8/10

[Seventy]

Blimey Steve, do you read every magazine, newspaper, online article and blog in the world?!??!

Good work though, it's becoming the most comprehensive thing on the fansite

[Steve]

words in edgeways with sarah blasko

When we were first planning our Australia Week features, we had no idea that Sarah Blasko was just about to release a new album, As Day Follows Night, in Australia. It was pure good luck that the two coincided, and even better that she was happy to take some time out of her preparations for this weekend’s Splendour In The Grass festival to answer some questions about it. We’ve already talked about the album in some depth this week, so we’ll keep this introduction short. Needless to say, we’re very excited that Sarah will be coming over to the UK in September for a show at The Borderline in London. You won’t want to miss it, not least the chance to pick up a physical copy of the album from the merch desk. It might be your only opportunity for quite a while.

* * *

For the writing of the new album you were working regimented office hours like Brill Building-era Carole King, or the way in which Nick Cave works. Was that a rewarding experience? What did you find difficult about it, if anything?

Yes, it really was a rewarding experience, although challenging. It taught me that you really can be disciplined and inspired at the same time. It was difficult at times, but writing is difficult… There’s always a point where you need to chain yourself to the chair and finish something.

There’s no escaping the fact that the album charts a difficult time of transition in your personal life, but musically it often has a real fantasy, escapist element. I love the tension between those two aspects, and it’s a very European thing, like it’s more ‘Belleville Rendez-vous’ than Disney. Is that the sort of feel you were going for? What sort of reference points did you have in mind?

Yes, that’s the sort of feel I was going for. I wanted the music to transcend the inherent sadness and offer a relief and an escape. All the songs are really about trying to transcend sadness and see the positives so the music had to do that. That was one of the first things I said to Björn when I wrote him a letter about the record. I said that I want the album to be otherworldly, so to sound like it comes from another time and place, but for it to be difficult to define exactly where or when. I had all kinds of references for the album… Morricone, Henry Mancini, Sam Cooke, Talking Heads, Paul Simon, Leonard Cohen, Nina Simone, Carole King.

The end of ‘Over & Over’ incorporates some lines from Talking Heads’ ‘Road To Nowhere’ – what’s the significance of that?

Well, it was a lucky accident really. I was playing over the chords and felt that the song would suit a kind of afterthought and I knew it was reminding me melodically of something but at first I couldn’t place what. Then I realised that the melody and words to this song fit perfectly. Somewhere in the back of my mind I’d always wanted to do something like that, and here was my chance! I think the sentiment of the song fit well with the sentiment of these words.

Coming to the album writing on your own for the first time, I read you anticipated that it would make recording easier without the fuss of electronics and programming and the complex guitar figures of the last album…but actually it was just as hard. Did that surprise you? What was the most challenging song to record?

I didn’t choose to not use electronics and programming because I was writing on my own for the first time. I decided to use acoustic instruments because I thought it would suit the songs best. It was actually a pretty effortless album to arrange and record, the least challenging I have ever made. Once I’d written all the songs, it came together surprisingly easily from there. Björn really helped to take them in some interesting directions and we agreed that they were best fairly simple. The most challenging ones get right were probably ‘I Never Knew’ and ‘We Won’t Run’. We changed the key of ‘I Never Knew’ at the last minute and we slowed it down, and I was in two minds about how ‘We Won’t Run’ should sound because it began as a piano song.

What were the main obstacles in translating your piano-based demos into the bass and percussion led songs we hear on the album?

Just my own mind really. I was so used to hearing them as piano songs and to pull that out was scary at first. But then I realised it brought a new life to the songs and it felt exciting and fresh.

Do you think that recording in the Swedish winter helped to capture a quality that you might not have been able to achieve back home in Australia?

I’m not really sure. The cold does make you more introspective, and being away from home broadens your mind and the scope of what you’re doing.

I think it’s fascinating that Björn came to the project having only heard your demos. It’s really unusual to hear of an established artist working with someone who has no prior knowledge of their material, and I was wondering what you thought the main pros and cons of that approach might be.

Well, we sent him the other stuff too, but he wasn’t too concerned with this because I told him I wanted to make a record that was nothing like those two. He was really impressed with the songs on the demos and felt that it could be a really amazing record and that was all that mattered to me. Of course, I had to think a little about how this would fit with what I’ve done in the past, but I was encouraged to not focus on that and I think that was a positive. I needed to make an extraordinarily different record I think. It was important to me at this point to kind of throw things up, to open the windows and let some fresh light in.

You’ve been blogging about the recording process all year – has that been useful to you personally or just something you like to do to keep your fans informed?

I think it was a fun project to do while I was away. It sort of kept me sane. I’ve never been into blogging, but it seemed it was time to come out of my shell a bit. I ended up writing more about films and my surrounds in Stockholm than recording. I didn’t want it to be one of those boring blogs that make recording sound dead boring!

Before working on the album you wrote some music for a stage production of ‘Hamlet’. How did you get involved in that, and to what extent did that experience influence the sound of new album?

Well, the director Marion Potts called me up and invited me to do the music for the production. I had a coffee with her and immediately felt a rapport. I felt I couldn’t really say no to such a challenge, so I said “yes”. I wrote mostly quite minimal piano music with some voice stuff as well. I felt that solo piano was the best instrument for most of the music in the production to convey the loneliness and confusion central to Hamlet’s character, so my main focus was writing music that fit with the play moreso than external influences. The piano has a haunting and lonely sound, which I felt made sense. The set was to be minimal and so was the costuming, so the music had to be also. Also, such a dense play called for simple music that enhanced the mood. I think the idea of keeping the music simple and the use of piano fed into the writing of my own album. Although I wanted the music on my album to have more energy and to be more diverse in style.

Can you tell us what inspired you to record the movie songs that make up the ‘Cinema Blasko’ bonus disc?

I love film musicals and I thought the sentiments of the songs kind of fit with the ideas on the album. Musicals and film music were an influence on the record – like ‘West Side Story’, ‘The Sound Of Music’, westerns, Henry Mancini. Plus there are elements of jazz on the record, so I wanted the bonus disc to sound like it was recorded in a little piano bar.

‘Cabaret’ with Liza Minelli is one of my favourite film musicals so I chose ‘Maybe This Time’; ‘Annie Hall’ is my favourite film, so even though it isn’t a musical I just loved the version of an old standard ‘Seems Like Old Times’ so I had to include it. I also promised a version of this on my blog. ‘Xanadu’ has a beautiful melody and I thought it could sound really sad as a piano song. It’s usually my favourite karaoke tune! ‘Something Good’ from ‘The Sound Of Music’ is one of the most beautiful songs. I always found the part of the movie when Maria and the Captain get together boring when I was a kid, but as I’ve gotten older it’s one of my favourite parts. Christopher Plummer is so handsome and Julie Andrews is so sweet here. ‘Out Here On My Own’ is a sentimental favourite from my childhood. I loved the TV show ‘Fame’ too.

What has the reaction to those covers been like?

Not sure. I’m guessing people may think it’s a bit of an odd decision to make. I kind of did it for myself! I have heard that ‘Xanadu’ is getting a bit of circulation.

Given that your blog is called ‘Theatre Blasko’ and also your writing for ‘Hamlet’, I’m surprised you didn’t make the bonus disc all covers of songs from stage musicals. What would you include if you had?

Most of these musicals I did have been stage musicals at some point, but to be honest I’m not such a fan of stage musicals. I like these film musicals because of the classic cast and I think in film it’s larger than life and magical. Like ‘Singin’ In The Rain’. It wouldn’t be the same on the stage would it?! And you can’t do ‘The Sound Of Music’ without the mountains behind and Maria running along those green, rolling hills in the opening sequence! The stage just doesn’t do the story justice! I do have a soft spot for musical theatre. I have a not-so-secret ambition to be in a musical.

Can you tell us about the ideas behind the beautiful animated video for ‘No Turning Back’?

Well, I just sent the song to Celeste Potter who was someone I’d met, and I’d seen a lot of posters and artwork she’d done and I liked her style. From there I just let her go. She sent me a couple of drawings and the idea she had for the clip and I just said, “Go for it.” I think it’s very cute. I love the unswerving spirit of that little girl. It’s wonderful to see how someone interprets your song visually. It’s cool.

The art reveal cards in the boxset are a nice idea. How do they tie in with the album thematically?

The pictures sort of turn from night to day. From a black and white image with no colour to a brilliant watercolour. The album is about bringing colour and hope to difficult situations.

Can we expect to see the album released in Europe?

I really hope so. It would mean a lot to me to have it released elsewhere. I’m working on it now. I play in London, Denmark and Sweden in August/September.

You’ve got some Australian shows coming up with the brilliant El Perro Del Mar, who is also an expert at turning very sad songs into magical pop masterpieces. What is it that you love about her music?

Yeah, it’s true, she does. I’m a big fan of hers. I like her repetitive, circular style and she has a wonderful, quaint, sad voice. Her perspective is often almost childlike and pure in its intentions. I can’t wait to see her play.

I read that you’ve been sampled by an Australian hip hop artist – are you all in favour of that? Do you listen to much hip hop?

It was really fun and surprising to hear. I think it works in the song, so I’m happy with that. I don’t listen to much hip hop these days, but I went through a bit of a hip hop phase in my teens!

You recently played a show with Holly Throsby, New Buffalo and others to try and save a community radio station that helped you gain a footing in your early career. Why is it so important that we don’t let independent radio stations like that slip away?

It’s important to have stations that are music-focused and focused on local community, and to give a chance for diverse styles of music to be played.

There’s been a lot of commentary over the last couple of weeks about this year’s Triple J Hottest 100 not containing a single female solo artist or female-fronted band – what do you think that says about the gender imbalance in music, even in these supposedly enlightened times?

I don’t really know about all that, but it’s a shame that Kate Bush, Björk, PJ Harvey and Patti Smith weren’t in there. Maybe it says something about the Triple J audience. I don’t know!

Do you feel that this is an exciting time for female artists coming out of Australia? There seems to be a lot of them all of a sudden!

I think it’s an exciting time for female artists all over. There’s some really strong individual voices out there. I’m pretty proud of the ladies here in Australia: Holly Throsby, New Buffalo, Pikelet, Bridezilla, Washington.

* * *

Alan Pedder

Sarah plays The Borderline in London on September 3rd. For more details visit her Myspace.

[Steve]

The third album from Sydney singer-songwriter Sarah Blasko creates an atmospheric world transporting the listener to another time and place. Expressing the different emotions felt through the stages of failed relationships and exploring the loneliness of solitude, As Day Follows Night is full of life lessons and self discovery wrapped up in 12 beautiful tracks. The music is complex, layers of pounding drums, delicate piano pieces, sweeping strings and haunting pipes, coupled with intelligent and exploratory lyrics make As Day Follows Night a delight to listen to. Lyrics such as ‘No one wants to be lonely, but what am I to do?’ in All I Want, and ‘I believe in miracles but a miracle you can’t control’ in Down on Love tells us Blasko has been hurt and is exploring her inner strength , coming out the other side wiser and more confidant.

Down on Love opens with a beautiful piano tinkling, conjuring up images of twinkling lights. The gentle oo-ing of Blasko’s haunting vocal creates an atmosphere that continues until the closing notes of the final track. First single All I Want has an old world feel about it and is revealingly honest: ‘All I want is to one day come to know myself’. Hold On my Heart’s pop sensibility makes the track stand out with its almost frantic piano scales, with Blasko’s poignant lyrics; ‘Can’t please somebody else until you learn to look after yourself.’ The underlying pounding drum and piano beat on No Turning Back commands attention while Is my baby yours? is a heart wrenching piece of music, the acoustic guitar the perfect partner to Blasko’s naked vocal. Over and Over is a delightful ditty with the use of Talking Heads lyrics fitting well. I Never Knew sums up the reflective nature of the album: both beautiful and hopeful.

Though her lyrics are laced with sadness, Blasko’s sound is often uplifting and throughout As Day Follows Night, there are glimmers of hope for those of us who often contemplate the future, alone or together.

Review by Alexandra Hartshorn

[Quaintly]

SMH article

"Pleasure from Pain" - Craig Mathieson

It is safe to say Sarah Blasko has not gone all rock'n'roll on us. At July's Splendour in the Grass music festival outside Byron Bay, where she introduced her impressive third album, As Day Follows Night, her set ended with the roiling All Coming Back. At the song's conclusion, to Blasko's surprise, her drummer, Jeff De Araujo, attacked his instrument.

''It's an aggressive song - you've got to listen for it! - but he took it a little bit too far,'' Blasko recalls. ''I wish I had done something cooler but I just stood there with my hand over my mouth. It was his drum kit so I was quite worried about it. Apparently, the bass drum narrowly missed my head when he threw it in the air.''

Blasko lets her music take the risks. Where 2006's What the Sea Wants, the Sea will Have was an involved invocation of emotional pursuit amid frontier harshness, As Day Follows Night is stark and stripped of metaphor. Blasko, by contrast, isn't so fond of embracing change. Recently she has been wondering whether it's time to move overseas, both to pursue her career and a new take on life, but for now she hasn't quite made the leap.

''I did shift from one side of Newtown to the other,'' she points out. ''That was a big move for me.''

The 33-year-old has recently returned from a series of shows in Scandinavia, where she previously recorded As Day Follows Night at Stockholm's Atlantis Studio. It was a working holiday, she says, a chance to see Sweden without the snow and to catch up with the musicians she met and played with previously, some of whom booked her gigs this time.

For each gig she was backed by a different jazz ensemble - piano, drums, double bass and various extras - with whom she would share, as a rule, just one rehearsal before playing together.

''It was like a musical choose your own adventure book,'' Blasko says. ''It's good for me because I have control freak tendencies and I'm trying to change them. I have to do things where I don't know what will happen. The songs on this record lent themselves to that approach because they're not as intricate.

''They're not as fragile as the songs from the last record. They're robust and they're very simple. The piano parts are about bashing the piano more than delicate playing. What I discovered was that other people found them fun to play.''

As Day Follows Night is an uncompromising record about the struggle to sever romantic ties. Down on Love is the opening gambit and the subsequent tracks, with their lilting tunes and absence of amplified instrumentation, act on that belief.

The links to Blasko's own life, having split with partner and co-songwriter Robert F. Cranny, were clear - something she was apprehensive about in an age where public figures, much to Blasko's disapproval, feel compelled to reveal every emotional detail in public.

''I thought it would be a lot trickier than it was. I think a lot of people don't really care who it's about or what happened,'' she says. ''It doesn't disturb me too much because, yes, you write songs that come from a personal space but as soon as you start writing about something like that you're dramatising it. It's personal but it's not like you're taking something away from yourself.''

Blasko pauses to reconsider. ''Or maybe that's what you tell yourself when you do write something personal,'' she concedes. She'll get another chance to decide when, reunited with her regular band, she undertakes an extensive tour of Australia. With As Day Follows Night on track to match the platinum record sales (70,000-plus copies) of her first two albums, and concert crowds in the thousands as opposed to the hundreds, Blasko will continue her slow, un-rock'n'roll acclimatisation to being a public figure.

''I feel a lot more open as a person and far less daunted by certain aspects of what I do,'' she says. ''As far as people knowing who I am, it's still difficult because I'm inherently a shy person. I'm quite awkward so I'm self-conscious about anything to do with that. I'm always happy to wander around and not be recognised.''

[learningthelingo]

Sarah Blasko
As Day Follows Night

James Madden.

Sarah Blasko triumphantly returns with her third album, bringing an ambitious collection of songs together in an enchanted and alluring offering.
Fresh from her turn as composer for the 2008 Bell Shakespeare production of Hamlet, Blasko wrote all of the songs on the album, making a turn from her previous collaboratively written records. Much of the album was written on piano and Blasko shows the versatility of the instrument most effectively by showcasing subtle melodies (Down on Love) as well as sharp, hard hitting tracks (No Turning Back).

Produced, recorded and mixed in Stockholm with Bjorn Yttling (of Peter, Bjorn and John), the album has a uniquely different feel to Blasko’s past two records. The Bjorn influence is made quite apparent with a more acoustic and echo filled sound on tracks such as Is My Baby Yours and Hold On My Heart, reminiscent of Fleet Foxes and Emiliana Torrini, respectively. Lead track All I Want conjures up an eerie, wandering through the woods vibe with a stirring string accompaniment. Notable mention goes to my favourite track We Won’t Run, which has one hell of a catchy chorus.

Down on Love, Is My Baby Yours and I Never Knew reveal deeply personal lyrics, reminiscent of Joni Mitchell’s Blue album. However, this post break-up sound doesn’t play as a melancholic trance, but rather as a deep, self-reflective reverie that is easily a contender for the best release of the year that only gets better which each listen.

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