Natalie Imbruglia's New Singles
Natalie Imbruglia's New Singles
By Kathy Mc Cabe
Natalie Imbruglia knows exactly what the cynics will think.A singles collection after three albums in 10 years? With five new songs? What the? Of course she baulked when her record label suggested Glorious, a compilation of a decade's worth of singles and new material which was earmarked for her fourth album.
This savvy pop survivor knows the suits have their eye on bolstering profits after a tough year at the cash register and the collection concept was not so much suggested as presented as a fait accompli.
Any artist whose career was given a stratospherical launch courtesy of an international smash hit - in Imbruglia's case, her 1997 debut single Torn - is doomed to fight for creative control against economic compromise. Imbruglia is pragmatic about it.
"Sometimes being contracted - whatever the contract may be - has gotten in my way. There's so many other things I want to achieve ... but I have been away for a while, as per usual, so this (album) is not going to do me any harm," she says.
"At least with the new songs, it gives people a taste of what I've been doing for the last year."
By her own admission, Imbruglia is a slow, methodical writer. Which is probably why she is always proclaiming her love for the limited opportunities she gets to perform live. Glorious brings together songs from her debut album Left of The Middle (1998), White Lilies Island (2001) and Counting Down The Days (2005).
Like anyone forced to do a stocktake of their past, the 32-year-old songwriter and actress wishes there were more scenes flashing before her eyes.
"I've always thought too much time is going past me, that I haven't done enough in the time, but I don't think I'm lazy. I'm sure everyone thinks I'm lazy," she laughs.
"I think (songwriting) just takes me longer; it's like pulling teeth and I get it wrong and change direction. When I listen to all of these songs together, it's quite random."
The phenomenal success of Torn and sales of more than 10 million albums since, has given her the financial freedom to take her creative time.
It is reported that the ongoing airplay of the song generates more than $2 million in royalties annually, which Imbruglia would share with its writers Scott Cutler, Anne Preven and Phil Thornalley.
Imbruglia says she still marvels at the "massive change" Torn's success wrought on her life, particularly as she was bankrupt after trying to secure work for two years in London off the back of her Neighbours success.
"That was a crazy, crazy time and I still can't really come to terms with it. But I am grateful it happened," she reminisces.
"It gave me an element of security in my life that I desperately needed and a bit of freedom. That was a blessing because it allowed me to take my time with my career."
Her happy marriage to Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns - a constant source of frustration to gossip writers - and the wisdom afforded by age has changed the kind of pop she wants to make now.
Since the release of Torn, she has inhabited the tortured artist pedestal - Big Mistake, Wrong Impression, Shiver.
Even her love songs focus more on the emotional knots within, rather than joy without. She admits she sank into a deep depression while writing for her second record, White Lilies Island, spending months on end isolated in her home near Windsor in the UK.
But no more. The singles collection's title track is unashamedly upbeat, celebratory and positive.
"I got bored of myself being miserable," she laughs. "I needed good emotional energy, to feel up, just for my own sanity.
I wanted to lighten up, to care less in a good way and that has probably been the best thing that could have happened to me for my work. You can expect the next album to be more summer than winter."
Imbruglia returns home next month to begin shooting her debut lead role in the Australian feature film, Elise, based on the Georgia Blain novel Closed For Winter.
And she'll hopefully hang out with her husband on the Across The Great Divide tour with Powderfinger. The pair have a rule that they spend at least a week together each month.
"I'm so excited about this film and about coming home to work," she says.
"The only trouble is Daniel goes to Europe in November after their tour in Australia."
* Glorious: The Singles 1997-2007 is out on September 22, 2007.
Source: The Daily Telegraph
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