Singer-songwriter Sarah Blasko's sixth studio album, ‘Depth Of Field’, sprouted from a 2016 Campbelltown Arts Centre (CAC) residency that was featured in the ABC documentary ‘Blasko’.
Sarah loved the intensive writing process and used much of what she had recorded on CAC’s stage as the basis for ‘Depth Of Field’.
Drawn to her subconscious, she often begins a new song by singing whatever comes to mind following her intuition without teasing the meaning from it. “Always [when writing, a] sense comes to the fore,” Sarah says. “I take that as a real signpost.”
And then there’s the tricky bit; transforming a “gut feeling” into a song that can tell a story. On the CAC stage, Sarah projected an anthology of American films onto the screen behind her for inspiration as she refined tracks for the album.
“[The films] sort of shaped what I felt like I wanted to talk about with the songs,” she says. “It helped to create the feeling in the room.”
In conversation, Sarah is forthcoming about her creative choices and appreciates the value of documenting her experience.
But a camera crew was not the most welcoming presence in her immersive studio. “To be perfectly honest, I didn’t really enjoy being filmed,” she says about the ABC doco 'Blasko'. “I don’t love watching myself, I don’t think anyone really does.”
While she tried to allow her fans a small insight into the workings of her brain, Sarah admits she was really “protective of the process” and didn’t expect ‘Blasko’ to perfectly capture her perspective. “It sort of shows part of what that experience was, but it’s not necessarily how it felt to be there,” she says.
“It’s like... if you try and film a sunset, it never ends up looking the same.”
Off-camera, Sarah feels she can clearly share her intent with an audience when she strips back all the layers surrounding her lyrics. She says taking off on the ‘Soloist’ tour, shortly after her CAC residency, brought her back into focus.
“I guess I learnt the power or re-learnt, re-reminded myself of the power of simplicity,” she says.
“There’s no sense in having a massive band unless you can convey something of power and of significance, or something that can stop somebody in their tracks or grab a hold of [them].”
‘Depth Of Field’ has her delving into the perspectives of others, alongside her own, in a sort of “acting experiment”. On the album, Sarah writes about her own, altered perception of events in different, emotional states and exploits her fascination with the way others react to the same experiences differently.
“People can be very changeable given their circumstance, and I find that very interesting,” Sarah says.
“[How] some people have the capacity to handle difficulty with much more grace than others.”
‘A Shot’, the album’s second single, pulses with anger and hurt from the lingering wound of a shock betrayal by a lover. The music video is directed by Mclean Stephenson, who the singer feels she especially connected to.
“What I’ve really enjoyed about working with him is that actually, it’s the least self-conscious I’ve ever felt, being filmed by someone,” she says.
The duality of beauty and darkness that Sarah extracts from her subject matter is echoed by Mclean, who elicits the familiar uneasiness that ‘Depth Of Field’ revels in, blurring vulnerability into performance.
After almost two years, the experiment Sarah began on a Campbelltown stage has been realised. From subconscious haze, she has arranged a a sharply focused, delightfully layered composition.
'Depth Of Field' is available now.
>Sarah Blasko Australia Tour 2018
Sat 12 May - The Triffid (Brisbane)Sat 26 May - Odeon Theatre (Hobart)
Fri 1 Jun - Metro Theatre (Sydney)
Fri 8 Jun - The Gov (Adelaide)
Fri 15 Jun - The Rosemount (Perth)
Thu 21 Jun - The Capitol Theatre (Bendigo)
Fri 22 Jun - 170 Russell (Melbourne)
