- Published
When it comes to writing music, Natalie Imbruglia needs constant motion.
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Imbruglia → publish → motion
"I walk around in circles to get the melodies, to catch them," the Australian singer says.
"
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singer → walk → them
If I'm sat in a chair, I get nothing.
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I → sit → nothing
"So if I go and work with someone new and they have a shoebox-sized studio, I'm like, 'How am I going to do my circles?'"
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I → go → circles
Imbruglia doesn't know exactly how many laps she completed during the making of her dancefloor-ready seventh album, Algorithm.
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she → know → album
Inspired by Talking Heads and Grace Jones, it's a record whose shimmering surfaces disguise lyrics of deep emotional complexity.
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surfaces → inspire → complexity
On Who Dimmed The Lights, the 51-year-old addresses how her mental health "unravelled" as she went through perimenopause.
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she → dim → perimenopause
"It was really tough," she says.
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she → say → ?
It's to do with your mind.
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It → do → mind
Your brain needs oestrogen to function, so when the levels fluctuate, it affects your spatial awareness.
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it → need → awareness
I've never walked into so many doorways.
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I → walk → doorways
Imbruglia says perimenopause exacerbated her ADHD, which she was diagnosed with in midlife.
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she → say → midlife
Other symptoms included heightened anxiety and anger.
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symptoms → include → anxiety
"You start seeing an expression on other people of, like, 'What's happening to you?'
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What → see → you
"I was seeing that face a lot, and it's to do with your ability to process [information].
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it → see → information
Things came to a head on tour, where her stage fright went into overdrive and she suffered "just terrible, terrible anxiety".
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she → come → anxiety
"I become sensitive to sound, so it feels like you're screaming at me if you're talking normally," she says.
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she → become → me
"I can't process questions very well.
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I → process → questions
I act twitchy and weird, and it seemed to get worse with perimenopause."
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it → act → perimenopause
She says her behaviour became a "nightmare" for her team.
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behaviour → say → team
Pressed for an example, she explains: "If you asked me whether I wanted still or sparkling water, I'd say, 'That's a question, and I can't answer questions right now'.
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I → press → questions
Well, it's not exactly Mariah Carey demanding baskets of puppies and forbidding eye contact, but Imbruglia was shaken up.
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Imbruglia → demand → contact
The day after one concert, she told her co-writers David Sneddon and Anu Pillai, "Guys, I think I'm going to have to quit my job because I can't cope with how I'm treating people before the show."
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I → tell → show
They helped to talk her down, putting her fight-or-flight instincts into context.
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They → help → context
"What they helped me realise is that I was trying to stop the behaviour with willpower, and if I just relaxed into it and said to myself, 'You know, you're about to perform in front of a lot of people, it's natural that you're nervous', maybe I wouldn't be resisting it as much.
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I → help → it
The impromptu therapy session inspired a new song, Upside Down, external - but Imbruglia is understandably frustrated that perimenopause isn't more widely understood, saying many women are rejected by their GP when they seek HRT treatment.
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they → inspire → treatment
"My mum never talked to me about it," she reflects, "but looking back, I know she had a really bad one.
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she → talk → one
"Her anxiety was off the charts, too, and I have a lot more compassion now, because she had four kids.
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she → have → kids
I've only got one."
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I → get → one
As a child in Sydney, Imbruglia was drawn to performing.
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Imbruglia → draw → performing
She'd squeeze lemon on her hair to make it blonder, and put on concerts of Whitney Houston covers for her neighbours.
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it → squeeze → neighbours
Before long, she was cast in commercials for Coca-Cola and Twisties, and spent her Christmases singing carols in shopping centres.
"But when you turn 15 or 16, and you're into boys, you're like, 'Oh, that's really naff.
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that → cast → boys
I don't want to be doing that any more'," she laughs.
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she → want → that
From that point onwards, Imbruglia became "basically unparentable".
"I was sneaking out and sleeping in someone's car on the beach, then getting busted.
"
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I → sneak → beach
My parents were really strict - and my mum would turn up at parties with my picture, going, 'Have you seen this girl?'
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you → turn → girl
Music continued to be her solace.
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Music → continue → ?
Dating a drummer, she switched allegiance from Whitney Houston to Tom Waits and Tori Amos, but the urge to sing remained.
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urge → date → Waits
You can see that hunger in a recently rediscovered photograph of a pre-fame Imbruglia, external, pressed up against the barriers of an INXS concert in 1992.
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You → see → 1992
"It was my first ever concert," she says.
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It → say → ?
I had white, tight jeans on."
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jeans → have → ?
…and 35 more, not listed.
