Not the girl next door
Kate Mickan / September 1, 2007
She's beautiful, she's talented, she's happily married to one of Australia's hottest guys - in short, life for Natalie Imbruglia is glorious. And she's on her way to Adelaide to shoot a feature film and perhaps accompany her husband, Silverchair lead singer Daniel Johns, on his imminent national tour.
After 10 years in the music business, and a string of hits, Imbruglia, 32, has proved she's more than just a passing fad as she prepares to release her best-of album, Glorious: The Singles 1997-2007. "It was the record company's idea about doing the singles collection,'' she says. "And I thought `Oh, here we go' but I always take so long to record a new album and so I thought, good idea in the end, because it breaks it up a bit. "I came around to the idea and was thrilled that I was able to put a few of my new songs on there as a bit of a teaser for my next album too.'' Having already completed her fourth studio album - not including Glorious - it won't be long until we also see that on our shelves. "It's written but I want to do a bit more writing and get it right. I do already have a full album to put out, so it will follow straight after (Glorious),'' Imbruglia says.

The songstress kicked off her showbusiness career aged just 16 in the early 1990s playing Beth Willis on soapie Neighbours. She held the role for two years before moving to London. The series, much loved in Britain, has helped launch the careers of several other big female names in Australian music - Stephanie McIntosh, Holly Valance, Delta Goodrem, Natalie Bassingthwaite and, most notably, Kylie Minogue. But Imbruglia felt her career on Neighbours would only hamper her future prospects as a musician. "I didn't talk to anyone,'' she says. ``No one knew I could sing. People would come up to me later (once word was out) saying, `I didn't know you could sing!'. "The only reason I had the courage to do it (pursue a music career) was because I had no money in England and I was declined a work permit. "The time of going there wasn't that great. There were a lot of Australian actors going over there at the time ... they basically just had too many of us over there which is fair enough, really.'' The stunning singer-songwriter first hit the airwaves in 1997 with Torn, a cover of a 1995 Ednaswap song. The single rocketed to No.1 in Australia and received global success. Imbruglia's debut album Left of the Middle also received world acclaim with Torn, Big Mistake, Wishing I Was There and Smoke.

Her next two albums, 2001's White Lillies Island, and Counting Down The Days (2005) didn't match the success of her debut, though Shiver, the first single off Counting Down The Days was a winner. "There's a song from each period of time and from each album that is personal to me and that best describes how I was feeling at the time,'' she says. "I love performing Big Mistake; it takes me back to a day before all the hype. "It was just a naive me that was writing a song that I was proud of. "That Day, which tanked, is also really personal to me about how I was feeling at that time in my life.''

Marriage to Johns brought not only new happiness but new privacy and a welcome end to media speculation. "I think the best thing about it was when I got married it stopped all the rumours about who I was with and this that and the other,'' she says. "Half of the rumours weren't even true and the other half were people that I'd kind of rather forget! "So I think I've probably got even more privacy since getting married.'' The couple married on New Year's Eve 2003 and Johns has since helped Imbruglia with the writing and recording process for her fourth studio album. "I don't think that he (Johns) has affected the way I perform,'' Imbruglia says. "I think I've been lucky enough to have him come in on songwriting sessions. I mean, who wouldn't be! He's so good at it. "I wouldn't want him to write every song on the album - that would be silly - but I feel very, very blessed that he would want to do it.''

Silverchair is about to embark on the national Across The Great Divide tour with another of Australia's most-loved acts, Powderfinger. "If I can be there, I will be there,'' Imbruglia says. "I'd imagine that I'll come out for a bit but I'll be doing my own promo stuff at that time too. We've got a one-month rule going where every month we have to see each other for at least a week, so I'll definitely be there at some stage.'' For those fans who miss out on catching a glimpse of her when she's on tour with the Aussie lads, not all hope is lost.

Imbruglia will be in Adelaide next month to start filming Elise, a feature film based on Georgia Blain's novel Closed For Winter. "I can't wait,'' she says excitedly. ``I get nervous just thinking about it but I'm excited as well. I went with Dan when the boys had a show there once and Dan and I stayed at Maslin's Beach and saw the dolphins and it was just beautiful.'' This will be the second movie role for Imbruglia, who starred opposite Rowan Atkinson in British spy comedy Johnny English. "I'd absolutely love to do more acting in the future,'' she says. ``I don't know where I'll find the time to, but I'd love to.''

Glorious: The Singles 1997-2007 is out on September 22.
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