Eternal Return Sarah Blasko
“Oh, look at what we have it’s getting better all the time!”
Eternal Return Sarah Blasko
By Ian Browne Shamrock News
It was my birthday as Sarah smiled at me from across the table at the Darwin Festival, but I said nothing! I was the first person to her concert at the Shell Dome in the Botanic Gardens, but the biggest mouth in the Southern Hemisphere was silenced. Sarah Blasko was my favourite artist at the time, and though I have rubbed shoulders with Australia’s biggest Indie icons, I was coy. Her voice, charisma, and that intriguing sound, did not disappoint that night, a wonderful birthday memory.
Sarah Blasko is well respected and well loved here in Australia. Her non-pretentious, earthy, nurturing empathies have gathered in the hearts and minds of many across all generations. However, those searching for her past sound will have to slide between the crevices of this album as Eternal Return is very different to her past works. If you are searching for the emotional-sullenness of The Garden’s End or don’t u eva, you will still find this in brilliant songs like I Am Ready. This new synth- infused album, one that is a collection of more simply penned- pop-like tunes, will be enjoyed with the first listen, adored by the second! I Am Ready opens the journey with its earnest, brave assertive admissions; the clack of sticks, the machine gun alert to the snare’s call to arms, her faint whiff of dark romanticism will not be snuffed-out. I love this song; Sarah’s angst-ridden hollering, which I like to call ‘Logan’s Run- hippy- angelic melodies’- as The Doves did with Snowden, is delicious.
I Wanna Be Your Man’s chorus channelling Sinead O’Connor, where the synthesiser reminds me of early New Order. Of course Sarah’s gorgeously musky, husky voice returns, and I was not alone in noticing her sound in many of the up-and- coming Indie-pop artists of the first decade of the new Millennium. Within some of her tunes she almost clumsily stumbles into the high notes, as she does in Without. Tis all planned I’m sure, her at times child-like innocence is very addictive. Catchy songs like Better With You and Only One-sure to be sung along to by even the hardest of punters.
The 70’s feature on this album too. A few years ago Portishead’s ‘Third’- with its War of the World meets Joy Division, seemingly give birth to the previously mentioned I Am Ready and I’d Be Lost. Okay similarities are endured, with Blondie becomes 70’s disco, and happy-house-ska guitar in Luxurious, but really does Sarah need to copy anyone? No, she is a true star, and this album has been collaged between the decades with expert ease. It is simple in dialogue, yet it maintains its creative edge where variety serves the interest well.
This love potion of the past and present will now snare many new fans. I might have been tongue-tied on my birthday, but there is so much to say about Sarah Blasko, and all of it is honourable of course: Eternal Return- if you borrow it from me, make sure it does!