ITV.com Interview > 09.03.2005

Natalie Imbruglia is back! After four agonising years of relative silence, the awesome antipodean has returned with her brand new album, ‘Counting Down The Days’.
And what’s more, she was keen to answer some of your questions about it!

The new single 'Shiver' is coming out on March 21st. What is the story behind that?

Well, Shep Soloman and Egg co-wrote that track.
I first heard it right at the end of creating the album and I was a bit peeved because the record company said ‘we’ve got this song’. But I’d already been working for three years and they wanted to hand me this song and I was like, ‘here we go,’ but then I really loved it.
It’s very rare for me to hear a song written by someone else that feels like I wrote it.

Yes, because your songs are often very personal. What would you say is the leading mood in your music at the moment?

I think I’m just happy and content at the moment so I don’t think it’s as dark. I got married and so emotionally in my life I think I’m a little bit more stable.
And although I can still write songs like ‘On The Run’, you know when I'm having a down day or when I'm feeling a certain way, generally speaking there’s a more positive tone throughout the record and in the music.

So where do you get your inspiration from when you’re writing generally?

Everything I guess. The feelings, the actual process of writing because for me it is quite confronting. It brings up a lot of stuff.
There’s usually so much stuff that I’m dealing with that I use that to go into the songs, but being in a long-distance relationship is great for writing because you’re lonely a lot of the time.
So that’s an obvious theme that runs throughout.

Your last album (White Lilies Island) was very personal to you. What does ‘Counting Down The Days’ mean to you?

I decided to name the album that because I listened to all the songs at the end (it’s really hard for me to do that to listen to my own album from start to finish).
But I tried to forget about myself and tried to feel what it felt like as a listener, and there was just this running theme throughout of longing and separation, this theme of being away from my partner that it just seemed to sum up the mood of the record.
I wrote that song while I was in the UK and I hadn’t seen my partner for quite a while and I was getting a bit frustrated with the album and where I was at with the record.
That’s what the actual song is about and it just sums up the theme that ran throughout. So it was quite a simple decision.

So that’s very much the theme of the whole album?

Not every song is about that, it’s just that overall it felt like it fit. I didn’t over think it. It just felt right.
Songs like ‘Honeycomb child’ is about lost innocence and memories of my childhood. So there are songs that aren’t about that, but there are a few that are.

How many songs did you write?

At least fifty.
There were some terrible songs. I mean, really bad. But, I mean, the bad ones I just forget about as quickly as I can and then move on.

Is it easy to choose? Obviously you have your producers with you as well.

Well, it’s just obvious. For me, when a song is up to scratch it’s clear. It just doesn’t happen very often.
I mean, you’re writing and you’re writing and so you have to discard a lot of material.
But I’ve spoken to a lot of other artists and it’s not that abnormal. I once asked Fran Healey from Travis, ‘man, how do you do it?’ and he said ‘look, if you weigh the scales up there is a mountain of songs that you don’t keep compared to the ones that you do’.
And that made me feel a bit more reassured. So it’s not just me.

There was a long gap between your last album and this one, what is the reason for that?

I apologise, first and foremost.
I was making a rockier album and I don’t think I realised quite how rocky it was because you can lose touch with that and think ‘no, that’s straight forward pop’ and I look back now to those songs and they were really heavy. I don’t think that’s what I do best and I don’t think that’s what people want to hear from me. It wasn’t the record that I should be making so I scrapped all that and decided to stick with songs that were not as heavy but a bit more up beat.
Also, there were unsettling things going on behind the scenes that I don’t really want to go into because it’s boring. But everything happens for a reason.
I think that I was meant to work with the people that I am working with now, but they weren’t available.
But, you know, sometimes the world works in a certain way so, you know, Hugh Goldsmith and Andy Stevens wouldn’t have been around had I been ready any earlier. Everything made sense. And sometimes life does that to you and just sooner or later it all makes sense.

And obviously your marriage prepared you. A lot of your female fans look up to you. We were wondering if you had any advice for fans in a long distance relationship?

I’m probably in the most unconventional set-up. I just think that you just have to be true to yourself. That’s the only advice I can give.
I don’t profess to be the right person to ask, but my situation works for me.

So how do you stay looking so fit and healthy?

Well, I don’t feel very fit and healthy.
I work out. I’m addicted to working out. It’s important for me mentally. If I don’t work out I feel sluggish, my brain works a bit slow so I do that at least three times a week.
But I have times when I’m really, really healthy but then I have binges and I eat pasta. I don’t think you should deprive yourself. You know, you can stay healthy and if you can do that for the majority of the time then you can have binge days when you can go out. Because I love food.
Part of the reason that I work out is that I’m not going to stop eating. You know, I’m not going to go on some crazy diet.

And the green stuff (referring to a bottle of green liquid)?

Right, well, that’s becoming more famous than me because every interview I do someone asks, and every interview I’m like ‘Yes, I’m drinking this weird green drink’.
It’s Super Greens. It’s very good for you and it’s good for your skin.
It’s made of dehydrated green leaves and it alkalises your insides. It’s the best environment for your cells.
I should get sponsored by them.

Does it taste nice?

Well, it’s better than normal water.

Is it true that you had operation to remove nodules from your throat?

Yep, last year and it was the best thing I ever did – I haven’t lost my voice since.
I used to lose my voice whenever I got run down, whenever I got tired if I went to a restaurant and it was a bit noisy I was panicking.

If you could duet with anyone, who would it be?

I’m really scared of duets. I’ve only ever done it once and that was with Tom Jones.
I’d love to sing with Bono one day, that would be awesome. He’d probably blow me out the water but it would be fun anyway.

What’s your favourite song you’ve ever produced?

That’s a good question. You’ve put me on the spot.
I really enjoyed ‘Counting Down The Days’ because my husband produced it. I felt really relaxed because I think he’s a musical genius. I didn’t have to worry that he was going to manipulate anything. I felt I had my band there and the result was amazing.
So that was probably the most fun I’ve had.

If you weren’t a singer or an actress, what do you think you’d be doing?

I don’t know. I definitely know that if I wasn’t singing I’d be acting and I still hope to do that. I’m quite good at doing hair. I don’t know, maybe I’d be a hairdresser.
I just don’t know.

Have you got many acting projects lined up?

Well, there’s one independent in Australia, a little small film and they’ve been waiting for two years for me and I’m praying that they’ll keep waiting. After going on a tour with this record if I’m lucky enough to, I’d like to go an do that.
It’s the best character and acting challenge. That would be cool.

And finally, any regrets or things you’d like to have changed?

Nothing. Because everything that feels like it shouldn’t be happening, finally you figure out why it is happening. I wouldn’t change anything.