Quantcast
 Everett True

Song of the day – 82: Sarah Blasko

Decrease Font Size Increase Font Size Text Size Print This Page

I know what you’re thinking.

You’re right.

Here’s what I wrote about Sarah Blasko in my review of the Falls Festival for Drowned In Sound at the start of the year.

Tuesday affords us of our first live sighting of the charming Sarah Blasko – slightly overwhelmed by the six musicians thumping out an indie beat on violins and keyboards. Blasko comes as sharp relief to the hordes of sweaty, unkempt, Australian Alpha Males grunging the good grunge all around her, rocking the Julie Andrews look in sensible shoes and high-collared black dress with long vibrant strips of colour down the front. (I wouldn’t normally comment on a lady’s attire: Blasko, however, clearly gives thought to her stage presence.) She dances like you’d imagine a Victorian china doll would, minus the preciousness. Her song ‘Hold On My Heart’ is magical, delirious. The backing on ‘Turning Back’ is one part Dr Who, another part Eleni Mandell. There’s a stand-up bass, the mood is vaguely sea shanty. It’s a little bit early Cardigans (it feels delightfully Mod), a little bit latter-day Björk (Blasko can clearly control her voice)… and is that a slight Irish inflection I hear? Songs are deceptively lightweight, detached. All of this is viewed from a sumptuous balcony, side of stage.

“You doing alright?” she asks. Cheers come in response. “It’s a traditional festival question,” she explains. At last! Someone that doesn’t push it “to the max”!

And here’s what I said about Sarah Blasko in the first Thin Kids interview.

“Our debut album is planned as a Sarah Blasko tribute – her songs sung the way we know she really wanted them to be.”

P.S. I couldn’t give a crap who won the Australian Music Prize.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.