EMILY WILLIAMS catches up with unique Australian singer/songwriter HOLLY THROSBY on the eve of her tour to talk brevity, intensity, and why it never rains in catchments.

Holly Throsby is currently sitting in her Sydney home, and I am currently sitting in an office where the windows are barely coping with the rain belting against them. Throsby likes to use her natural surroundings to a recording’s best advantage. Where her debut On Night was an open and sparse affair reflecting her new kid on the block status, producer Tony Dupe was able to make it intimate and relaxed with some rather odd touches – like leaving the windows open in the recording room to capture that ‘natural’ feel. Throsby’s sophomore effort Under The Town has taken a decidedly different route. The songs are still the personal, thoughtful pieces she is renowned for, but some delicate instrumentation and careful collaging – again courtesy of producer Dupe – has resulted in a new take on the folky craft.

“Especially with the first album I was quite scared of letting anyone play around with it too much.” Throsby explains. “And with this album, and working with friends on this one, as much as I hate the word, I have tried to make it as an ‘organic’ a process as possible. Having said that, Tony was a lot more interested in manipulating sounds on this record than in the previous one.”

In fact, current radio favourite Starting A Fire was one track that Dupe focussed particular attention upon.

“We basically had that song deconstructed and when we sat down with it we had so much fun cut and pasting it back together again like a collage.” She animatedly explains.

Dupe did enjoy piecing together the ‘chop-stick drumming’ of Bree van Reyk, and the results of his quirky yet simple production play are evidenced throughout Under The Town. But it is has always been the writing style of Throsby that has attracted the most attention.

Often compared to American short story writer Raymond Carver, I ask Throsby whether she in fact abides by a few of Carver’s own maxims; namely that good things should be inclined towards brevity and intensity, and a good ‘piece’ can be written and read in a single sitting.

“It is very flattering…and I like that idea. I like the way he chooses words and situations quite economically. I think that he’s very good at the mundane and he’s quite unadorned as a writer, and I tend to gravitate towards writers that are like that.”

One thing that Throsby isn’t too fond of though, is other writers who like to quiz the her on her lyrics and their particularly personal ties.

“I do find it difficult to talk about the personal things in my songs, and I become quite wildly inarticulate when I am questioned about them.”

It seems no one ever likes to explain themselves that fully.

Holly Throsby and band play The Globe on Friday and the Byron Bay Community Centre Saturday.

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