“I wanted to take all the things I really love about music and turn it into a pop moment,” says Australian singer-songwirter Bertie Blackman of her highly acclaimed new album, The Dash, which saw Blackman experimenting and for the first time in her career, seeking out co-writers.
“I’m a solo writer. But I wanted to learn how the rest of the world writes pop music. I wanted to explore my voice, explore the structure of pop music and hooks – find how I could have fun making music again,” she says.
With her search yielding the likes of Julian Hamilton (The Presets), Louis Schoorl (Daniel Johns, 360, Jessica Mauboy), and John Castle (Josh Pyke, Vance Joy), we asked the chameleonic artist to give us the lowdown on her latest full-length effort, the the follow-up to 2012’s heady Pope Innocent X.
Run For Your Life
I had ‘Head Over Heels’ by Tears For Fears in mind. It inspired me to create a classic pop track with a big chorus. ‘Run For Your Life’ really came out of exploring those moments. Emotionally, it’s about taking all of your fears and expectations and pushing them right down to your toes to create little rockets. Rockets for running… and rockets for being brave.
Kingdom Of Alone
We kicked around the theme of ‘Kingdom Of Alone’ for quite a few weeks before I heard the music and how I wanted this song to feel. The lyric “I’m not lonely, but I’m alone” is really the essence of this track. A celebration of our ‘aloneness’. I’ve found myself many times out and about or in a large group of people, but feeling hopelessly alone.
I have spoken to loads of people who share this sentiment. It’s like everything is on mute around you and the distance just feels so endless and all you wish is that you can reach out and touch somebody that understands you. However, it’s in the acceptance of that feeling that you’re able to overcome, and revel in your ‘Kingdom Of Alone’.
Dancing Into Trouble
This was a really fun track to write. The title is taken literally from a newspaper headline I caught on the way into the studio. This is a song about skipping into everything you’re not supposed to do and fucking enjoying it. Like whiskey… or, um, kale.
Beams
Imagine a torrential dark blue ocean and a lone boat. A grand gust of wind whips off your trusty ‘ole hat and your monocle, and now you can only see from one eye. A white light brushes past your face and it’s warm for a moment. You tremble and realise that warmth is what you’ve been waiting for… and it’s calling you.
Minute By Minute
On this record, I really wanted to explore some parts of me that I had never shared. I think people are used to knowing me as someone who is ‘dark’. I mean, who doesn’t love to explore the dark? In every shadow lies a mystery.
But what lies in the light can be even scarier. Scarier for me anyway, because there’s nowhere to hide. This is a very open-hearted Bertie song. You won’t often hear tracks like this from me, which is what makes it a special moment, I think. Plus, it’s a kick-arse drum shuffle and who doesn’t love those?
Strangers In A Moment
Initially, I wrote this song as a guitar and vocal track with heavy effects, but it really ended up an ode to The Eurythmics. I was lucky enough to have Kirk Pengilly from INXS do the sax solo at the end! Like… seriously… take a moment to breathe in his part at the end – one of the world’s best pop sax players doing his thang. I get excited every time I hear it!
Tear It Down
I got to work with John Castle in his shed studio out in the Melbourne suburbs on this one. His vibe was that it was like a modern take on The Smiths. This song was one of the quickest to write, and also, just as a nonsense note, John’s family dog is a salad-eatin’ dog. The kind of dog that swipes your salad when you’re not looking.
Dark Days
Writing this tune with Julian Hamilton from The Presets was a pretty special moment. I walked into the studio, and as Julian took a phone call, I just sat down at the piano and started playing a couple of chords.
Jules interrupted his call to say “Hold that thought! Keep playing those chords!” and ‘Dark Days’ poured out really quickly. It’s a song about loss and memory… and longing. To me, the piano parts in the chorus remind me of the ‘whip’ birds up in Queensland – a really nostalgic sound for me.
War Of One
‘War Of One’ was written in the heat of the Melbourne summer last year in my very tiny and dark bedroom. I had been listening to a lot of Blondie and Australian ’80s music, trying to get back to my roots!
Because of the nature of doing lots of co-writing sessions at the time, I felt like I was constantly having to overcome my shyness and slight confidence and this was a real challenge for me. Having to wear your heart on your sleeve in front of strangers can be confronting. ‘War of One’ says it all in the title – a rising pressure from within.
