Released: 24 September 2021

Natalie Imbruglia rises from the ashes with her long-awaited album ‘Firebird’. 

The LP is the Australian singer’s first in six years and her first collection of original material since 2009’s ‘Come to Life’. 

It comes following a period of “crippling” writer’s block off the back of a dispute with her former record label, which saw Natalie unceremoniously dropped from her deal before her album was released. 

Now, she returns with an empowering collection of 14 tracks, each co-written by the singer-songwriter, exploring her journey from chart-topper, through the dark times and back into the light. 

Lead single Build It Better emcompasses the themes of the record – ‘When it all falls down / Gotta build it better’ – and serves as a defiant statement that she won’t be beaten. 

Along with pre-release single On My Way and album track Nothing Missing, it draws on the past and looks to a brighter future, offering a reintroduction to the ‘90s superstar. 

Throwing her sound back even further, Maybe It’s Great and What It Feels Like are synth-laden ‘80s pop gems and provide a clear blueprint for future releases.

While the first half of the album is endearing, however, it wears thin over the course of 14 songs, with the latter portion of the record meandering without ever gaining pace. 

The acoustic guitar led Change of Heart is pretty while River – with it’s earworm chant ‘River, river run’ – is a highlight of the downtempo numbers.

Firebird, the album closer and title track, is a standout piano moment and one of the strongest tracks here, but it’s lost in the density of Side B. 

There’s no doubt about it, Natalie Imbruglia is a brilliant pop star, and it’s unfortunate she settled on such an exhaustive release – because buried within ‘Firebird’ is a stellar 10-track album.

‘Firebird’ is available on CD (including Signed Copies) and Vinyl.