It's been six years since Imbruglia released her last album but it's worth the wait.
Melbourne’s adored musician Laura Imbruglia is an industry chameleon, having adopted strategic and television drapes to accompany her songwriting blueprint. 2019 sees Imbruglia return with her first album since 2013 – her fourth – another genre-reaching slice of the heterogeneous rock she has made her own since emerging with It Makes a Crunchy Noise in 2003.
With the rock’n’roll grit that the likes of Chrissy Amphlett, Sarah McLeod and Adalita first inscribed in the Australian female songbook, Imbruglia inaugurates the Scared of You experience with ‘Tricks’ – a vivacious exploration of twofacedness. The veil of deceit is ripped off right away on this crunching opener – an arm ex to those who believe fallacy is the best policy.
Imbruglia causes a ruckus with ‘The Creeps’ before we enter the stoner rock domain on ‘Give Boys Pink Toys’ and the punk realm on ‘You’re Shit’. There’s plenty of finger pointing throughout Scared of You’s first third – Imbruglia’s attempt to shift a social tide which has been dominant for far too long. The songwriter loosens her clenched teeth on ‘Diptych’, a shoegaze number that brings to mind Cocteau Twins and explores the geometric capability of relationships.
We get a hint of Courtney Barnett on ‘CBT’ and by track seven Imbruglia has already created the most confidently multifarious Australian release of 2019 so far.
