The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 145

by peter holmes nr i i Us tin j' it u.i 'feafes1 I Believe it or not, yet another former Neighbours star is singing up a storm in the UK NEW Year's Eve at Sublime features DJs Nervous, Jonathan Wall, Simon Caldwell, Stephen Allkins, Ben Drayton, Nik Fish and Mark Dynamix. $45. Tickets from Central Station or the venue. 244 Pitt Street, city. Phone: 9264 8428.

The Pavilion Hotel presents Corruption and Recovery on New Year's Eve, lasting an epic 24 hours. DJs include Craig Obey, Chester, "Flex" Taylor and Dave Kirkpatrick. $35 or $15 after 6 am on New Year's Day. Tickets from Reach'N Records, Central Station, Music Zone, Parade, Warped. 580 George Street.

Phone: 9211 7844. The Metro hosts Love on New Year's Eve, with DJs Sugar Ray, Phil Smart, Ken Cloud and Young Jase. $55. Bookings: 9264 2888. See in the New Year with Jabba and Maynard at Retro.

All eras. $20. Bristol Arms Hotel. 81 Sussex Street. Phone: 9262 1797.

On Wednesday night the Cat and Fiddle in Balmain hosts Robyne Dunne and Bluehouse. 456 Darling Street. Phone: 9810 7931. Steve Balbi's new band Universe plays Wednesday night at the Northpoint Tavern in North Sydney. Corner Miller Street and Pacific Highway.

Phone: 9954 0101. New Year's Eve at the Annandale Hotel means a good dose of Big Heavy Stuff and Knievel. On Saturday Melbourne's Underground Lovers play. Corner Nelson Street and Parramatta Road. Phone: 9550 1078.

On Saturday Pennidredful are at Bizzo's in Caringbah, supported by The Wash and C-Minus. 32 Banksia Road. Phone: 9524 7358. Mental As Anything play the Narrabeen Sands' beach party on New Year's Eve, joined by Jaykobs Ladda and Le Club Nerd. 1260 Pittwater Road.

Phone 9913 1166. The girl who surprised herself: Former soap star Natalie Imbruglia. taJ SLJ we held out to make it a special record." Unlike most singing soap stars, Imbruglia had more than a perfunctory role to play on the album, writing all the lyrics and contributing melodies. "I really have surprised myself," says Imbruglia, who was raised in the Central Coast suburb of Berkeley Vale. "Before the album, I was quite prepared to accept that I couldn't write and I would just be a singer.

The fact that I could not only do it but enjoyed it so much has been the best part of making a record. I have discovered a new creative outlet." Imbruglia started writing lyrics on her own, but soon found a more suitable way to release what it was she wanted to say. "Initially for me it was more of an academic approach," she says. "I would sit down and write the lyrics first, which I find quite difficult. It's like you have to decide what you want to write about before you start.

"The way I do it now is completely inspired by the music. Generally, I work with a musician and they get the chords up then I say what I like, start singing melodies over the top. The words are born from those melodies, they just come into my head. I find it quite organic and quite easy. It's something magic and quite brilliant." Not at all, it seems, like performing on Neighbours.

"Not with the kind of acting I admits Imbruglia. "Now, I have complete creative control, I can make whatever song I want to make. In the situation I was in before I didn't have i any control over it. Not to say that's a bad thing, but that's just the nature of soap really, isn't it?" While she admits to lonely and doubting times in London periods when she wondered what the hell an out-of-work former Neighbours star had to offer the world Imbruglia says such hardship has helped to make her a more rounded writer. "It gave me an edge, and I think that's why I'm still here," she says.

"This is a really tough town, especially when you go through a hard time, and I did have a struggle before I got my record deal, I didn't have an income for a long time. "I think I was pretending to be happy, but really I was quite scared about what I wanted to do next. The thing is, you don't want to let it get the better of you, especially at my age. I wouldn't want to spend the rest of my life here, but at 22 you're quite resilient, you want to tough it out." With the clock ticking down on our brief chat, there is just enough time to slip in a quick jibe about that caught-somewhere-in-the-middle accent. "I'm actually so desensitised I can't tell what I sound like anymore," she says.

"I do remember getting a hard time when I went back home. When I first got to London I took on much more of a Sloane Ranger accent than I have now. I think it was a bit of role-playing when I came to London, but it's actually died down a bit, believe it or not." Torn is out now, while Imbruglia's album will be released early next year. WHEN chart-topping former Neighbours star Natalie Imbruglia landed in London three years ago, she was advised by those in the know to abandon any ambitions related to singing. "I always wanted to make a record, but I think after Neighbours I was quite tainted by the attitude of the industry," said the 22-year-old Imbruglia, in an exclusive interview.

"The attitude was, this is not a credible move to cross over. So many had already done it. I think I let that affect me to the point where I almost wasn't going to do it. But then I got to another point where I said to myself, 'I don't care what anyone says, I'm just going to do it'." Imbruglia's decision to trust her instincts have been rewarded with the extraordinary UK success of her debut single Torn, and album Left Of The Middle. While the album headed straight for the top five, the single made it to number two on the official charts and number one on several radio charts, knocking off the Spice Girls and Aqua's Barbie.

"I was in Barcelona shooting the second video when I found out the song had gone to number two first week in," said Imbruglia. who played the character of Beth in Neighbours. "You get a mid-week chart, but sometimes a song can drop 10 places before the official chart comes out. "I wasn't allowed to enjoy it until the weekend chart came out, so there were a few days of anticipation. I really can't describe the feeling, I worked really hard towards this and coolest singles of 97.

Walking On The Sun, with its over-the-top reverb, staccato vocal delivery, cymbal-heavy arrangement and dinky keyboards, wouldn't have been out of place on the Austin Powers soundtrack. The band leaves the '60s behind on the rest of the album, preferring a mix of ska, punk and the Psychedelic Furs that is sometimes fun and often tiresome. 610. Britpop or a bunch of Big Chill leftovers? Pass the smelling satts. The album opens with two pieces from Mychael Danna's score.

The arrangements of Shoplift and Finale, with their stark percussion and strings and floating woodwind, create an uneasy ambience. Other highlights include David Bowie's Can't Read, Bobby Bloom's Montego Bay and Harry Nilsson's Coconut. 710. December 28, 1997 35 FUSH YU MANG Smash Mouth (InterscopeUniversal) HAILING from San Jose in California, Smash Mouth have already offered one of the THE ICE STORM Motion Picture Soundtrack (RoadshowShock) WHAT'S this, a soundtrack that doesn't sound like the best of THE SUN-HERALD TIMEOUT.