Eternal Return Sarah Blasko

• 1 I Am Ready 04:29
• 2 I Wanna Be Your Man 03:53
• 3 Better With You 04:23
• 4 I'd Be Lost 04:30
• 5 Maybe This Time 03:40
• 6 Beyond 03:57
• 7 Luxurious 04:51
• 8 Only One 04:16
• 9 Say What You Want 04:24
• 10 Without 03:59
• Total Runtime 42:22

Info for Eternal Return

Sarah Blasko’s Eternal Return is an unabashed paean to love, and Blasko is more than happy to admit it, “I’m very open about that. It’s a “love album”, and it’s from personal experience.”

For the most part, the lyrics on the album are disarmingly simple. Blasko’s words are direct, almost naked in their honesty, and poetic imagery is kept to a bare minimum. There is a conversational, first-person immediacy about the songs that no listener could ever misapprehend. They are emotionally explicit, and have the ring of truth.

From the opening fanfare of “I Am Ready” listeners will immediately be struck by the new musical terrain Blasko is exploring. The dense layers of strings heard on her previous album, I Awake, have been replaced by a warm wash of analogue synthesizers, punctuated by a military snare drum. “I Am Ready” confronts the duality of human nature and what each of us allows others to see: As Blasko explained, “I’m haunted by the idea of being a good person or an evil person, and I suppose that song is about revealing your darkness, and your strengths – the reality of who you are.” This arresting first song serves as a bridge between the claustrophobic darkness of I Awake and the optimism that characterises much of Eternal Return. “I Am Ready” is a declaration: she may have been awake before but now her eyes are truly open, prepared for whatever challenges love and life may have in store.

“I Wanna Be Your Man” addresses the battle of the sexes, humanity’s oldest undeclared war. The lyrics work on many levels, and are as pertinent to Blasko’s chosen career as they are to her private life. It’s easy for a woman to feel marginalised in the male-dominated world of the music industry. “Every now and then I just think, fuck this – I’m so sick of a room full of men!” Blasko is partly joking but there’s no doubting the immense pressure women are under to avoid ruffling the feathers of the roosters in the henhouse. “I Wanna Be Your Man” is not a diatribe but it skilfully highlights some of the imbalance that persists between the sexes. On top of all that, it’s a terrific synth-pop song.

In fact, Eternal Return has a marked retro-electronic vibe throughout, which was a conscious choice: “I got interested in old synths again, which I haven’t been for a few years,” says Blasko. “Growing up as a kid in the ’80s, a lot of my favourite pop records were synth-based, and lot of my favourite love songs were written in that era.” She names Gary Numan, Diana Ross and Michael Jackson as just a few of the album’s influences, as well as Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen. “They were all artists that I grew up listening to. I was thinking about Tina Turner when I was singing “Beyond”. No-one else can necessarily hear it but I had a fun time picturing these things.”

Despite the nostalgic ‘80s influences there is nothing lightweight or cheesy about either the songs or the production. Blasko and her collaborators scrupulously avoid the era’s clichés and keep everything understated and taut, never sugary. The overall effect is that the poignant lyrics and ravishing melodies always take centre stage.

Sarah Blasko
is a solo artist who hails from Sydney, Australia. She has released four albums under her name; 'The Overture & The Underscore' (2004), 'What The Sea Wants, The Sea Will Have' (2006), 'As Day Follows Night' (2009) & 'I Awake' (2012). She also wrote the score to Bell Shakespeare's theatrical production of 'Hamlet' in 2009, in 2011 released a collaboration with fellow Australian singer/songwriter's Holly Throsby & Sally Seltmann called 'Seeker Lover Keeper' & co-wrote the music for the Sydney Dance Company Production 'Emergence' with Nick Wales in 2013.

This album contains no booklet.