Today Sarah Blasko has released her sixth studio album, the beautiful I Just Need To Conquer This Mountain. It’s a deeply personal and cathartic album, as Sarah reflects on goodbyes and new beginnings.
I had a chat with Sarah about the genesis of the album and it’s influences, her upcoming tour and much more. Links for tickets and tour dates are at the bottom.
Congrats on I Just Need to Conquer This Mountain – It’s six years since the last album – did you think it would take this long?
I’m not sure if I thought it would take this long but now that it’s finally here, I’m glad that it’s taken this long and I think it needed to take this long. I think I was in a very different place when I put out my last album and I think the extra time has actually done wonders for me. I’m not sure I would’ve said that a year and a half ago, then I was broken and hurt and confused, but a year and a half on I feel clearer and stronger. I’ve had time to think, time to live, time to work out where I want to go with my music and my life and who I want to be.
I’ve also had the most beautiful time with my kids being a mother and doing all the wonderful moments that come with that. I recorded the album exactly 2 years ago and it was a dream to make it – so free flowing and wholesome and drama free – it’s comedic it’s taken this long to put out but I had so much behind the scenes to get on track and find the right time for it.
It feels like you’ve been on a cathartic journey with this album. Did you have a specific theme in mind when you started working on these songs?
Music is catharsis for me, for sure. But no, there wasn’t really a deliberate theme as such. I just felt reflective, looking back on my life and kinda heartbroken, like I’d come to the end of who I had been for a very long time, the things that defined me in my life and I had to rebuild. Plus I’d just had a baby so that really shattered and then put everything back into a new place for me, a new perspective. I was in a bit of a bubble too. I mean, we all were in 2020/2021 weren’t we?! I kinda loved the bubble for a time there.
You’ve stated that “This album was probably the most relaxed & free feeling record I’ve made” – why do think it was this time ‘round?
Everything feels relaxed and free when I’m working these days, it’s all a walk in the park compared to looking after kids! Look, I mean that with the utmost respect because I actually love being a mother, but making music refreshes me in such a great way and sees me returning to them after a day in the studio with a spring in my step! Plus I’m really doing music on my own terms these days – no one pressuring me – so I guess that’s why it was so relaxed. I just book it and do it all without much fanfare, just fucking go in and love every moment!
I also love the musicians I work with and respect them so much, it feels great to just relax into what they can offer and the idiosyncrasies they offer. It was also beautiful to record with such a brilliant engineer – Brent Clark – he created such a confidence in the room. When things sound that great straight off the desk everyone feels amazing. Also, Rancom Street Studios where we recorded was a beautiful place to record live and we just felt so at ease and comfortable to just do our best.
The opener, “The Way” covers you pulling away from the Church. It shows its grip on you, even all these years later. Is it possible to ever escape its tentacle-like hold on those so embedded from an early age?
Well, I think this song is me desperately wanting to run back into the arms of the church, back to times when I thought I had all the answers. Every now and then I’m aware that I don’t have that safety net of belief anymore and it’s sort of terrifying to me every now and then, that’s what the church was to me I guess the lifetime friendship that went along with it defined me in the same way. I suddenly felt very exposed without them both. I think the church will always be part of me and I’m often glad for it, part of me feels really grateful that I had that start. Pondering the big questions at a young age! But sometimes I just wish I’d lived a more carefree youth and wasn’t such an over thinker!
“Goodbye!” featuring Ryan Downing is one of the many highlights. He supported you on your Depth of Field tour in 2018 – how did he end up working on this Track?
Yes, he supported me on that tour and I loved watching him and his band every night. The song sort of revealed itself to be a duet at a certain point, I didn’t decide to write one. I started hearing the various lines as responses to one another and then I started wracking my brain over who would work with my voice/with the song. Ryan’s voice sounds like it could come from another era and I love that. It imbues it with a timeless, dark quality. There’s an inherent drama in the song that I felt his voice could convey. It’s pretty lofty and grandiose.
The 3 videos all have a dream-like essence to them. You created them with SPOD. Who is SPOD? What was the process like ?
There are videos for all 10 songs. They all started from some pretty raw and improvised footage I shot with Melbourne photographer/video maker Wilk and lighting designer Bazz Barrett and then I wasn’t sure what to do with them but I liked the relaxed and exploratory spirit of them! I’m friends with Brent aka Spod and I saw some beautiful and creative/wild videos he did for Alfa Mist in particular but also for King Gizzard – he uses analogue video techniques as well as A.I. to do some really creative/original things. But yeah, I think he’s added a really psychedelic and dream-like vibe to them all which is what I wanted. Kept the raw performance at the centre but morphed them into something really imaginative.
You are releasing this album without being attached to a record label. What’s it been like this time round without the restrictions?
It’s been great so far just going with my gut and doing what I please! I’ve got an amazing bunch of people around me though so I don’t feel totally alone. Genna Alexopoulos who is doing my publicity has been a legend and Dave Batty my manager does the work of about 10 people. I owe them a very large cocktail when this baby is out!
How are the rehearsals for the tour going?
Excellent thanks, these songs feel pretty huge and emotional to perform and we’re working with some of the elements from the videos so it’s a lot of fun and hugely cathartic. I’m working with the musicians who played on the record.
Sarah Blasko – I Just Need To Conquer This Mountain tour
Fri 15 Nov – Dashville Nights – Wonnarua Land/Hunter Valley
Sat 16 Nov – Factory Theatre – Gadigal Land/Sydney – SOLD OUT
Sun 17 Nov – Factory Theatre – Gadigal Land/Sydney
Sat 30 Nov – Princess Theatre – Meanjin/Brisbane
Thur 5 Dec – Theatre Royal – Dja Dja Wurrung/Castlemaine – SOLD OUT
Fri 6 Dec – Northcote Theatre – Naarm/Melbourne – SELLING FAST
Thur 12 Dec – The Gov – Kaurna/Adelaide
Fri 13 Dec – Freo Social – Boorloo/Perth
Tickets on sale at sarahblasko.com
I Just Need To Conquer This Mountain from Sarah Blasko is out now – grab a copy HERE – various merch bundles available including vinyl
Header image credit: Marcus Corbyn
