Sabrina Lawrie’s debut, solo album has been a long time coming.
The Brisbane musician has been a fixture on the local music scene for years as part of Tongue and Little Vegas And The Fuzz Parade. However, Sabrina’s years in music didn’t prepare her for the struggle involved in making her own album ‘Hush The Mountain’.
“I think it’s been about two years I’ve been saying 'it’ll be ready next June',” Sabrina recalls. “Lots of real life stuff happened.”
Work on ‘Hush The Mountain’ began in 2008, with initial songs featuring piano and acoustic guitar. It was in 2012 when Sabrina’s music began to evolve into a harder, blues-rock sound.
“I went over to the States on my own and I put together a three-piece band over there, which I hadn’t done before. I’ve always had another guitarist to lean on and it really made me a better guitarist and changed the direction of my songwriting.”
It was 2016 when the biggest set-back happened. One night Sabrina fell from her drummer Andy Davis’ balcony, breaking her arm and spine. Thanks to Andy’s quick thinking Sabrina didn’t suffer nerve damage. “That guy has my back, literally,” she jokes. But her recovery delayed the album once again.
“I was petrified it would affect my guitar playing. But it was actually really life changing for me in a positive way, strangely enough. It helped me focus on healing because I was in a bed for a long time, not able to play guitar. I got really depressed. But through natural medicine I kind of found myself.”
A surprising effect Sabrina’s accident had was on her long-gestating album. Even though the album was finished before the accident, Sabrina returned to it after her recovery with a new outlook.
“It changed which songs actually made it on to the album. I left a lot of the hard rock songs behind and was resonating a lot more with healing songs; the songs that had repetitive drones that harked back to shamanistic ritual sounds because I got into all the things about healing.”
‘Hush The Mountain’ has a diverse sound, from the harder blues-rock howl of first single ‘No Rules’ to songs ‘driven by harmonium, electronic sounds, nylon-string ballads, and stuff that’s real soundtracky’. Alongside the new sounds, Sabrina was also inspired to explore new lyrical themes.
“Things I’m exploring are stepping out of your comfort zone, which is something that I did when I went to the States. That was a big transformative time for me and a lot of material happened there.
“Then there’s songs about healing through connecting with other people. Everything’s got quite a positive message even though some of the songs have a heavy vibe. In the end, it’s about finding the light through struggle.”
Along with finally releasing the album, Sabrina is excited to be playing live again. To play the album live, Sabrina has formed the six-piece band The Hunting Party, who will be backing her at her album launch, and Dead Of Winter Festival in July.
“It’s been so cathartic playing live again. It’s been overdue and I’ve been having the most fun ever. We’ve just been having a riot.”
Sabrina Lawrie Tour Dates
Fri 16 Jun - The Zoo (Brisbane)Sat 1 Jul - Howl & Moan (Byron Bay)
Sat 8 Jul - Sonny's House Of Blues (Brisbane)
Fri 21 Jul - Junk Bar (Brisbane)
Sat 29 Jul - Dead Of Winter Festival, Jubilee Hotel (Brisbane)
