Olden Daze

"It's strange, isn't it? Somebody asked me about that recently and I just started laughing,” Nikki Thorburn says – responding to the strange phenomenon that has seen her constantly referred to as an 'old soul'. “I mean, I kind of know why it's there and why people think that's a term suitable to me. I guess I'm just someone who has always been influenced by the old. There's a nostalgic tone to my music.”

Nikki Thorburn is only twenty-one. Yet, her media profile to date overflows with references to old souls and nostalgia. At first, it seems like a product of relatively superficial analysis. A polished blend of organic jazz, soul, country and folk influences, Thorburn's output as Iluka automatically recalls both broken hearts and bygone eras. There's surprisingly more substance to that overly-common descriptor, though.

For someone so young, Thorburn has a lot of experiences under her belt. Musically, she's been writing and recording songs since she was a toddler (her father also a musician). Originally performing under her given name, she adopted a pseudonym after returning from a long excursion through Europe – which eventually saw her broke and living out of an attic in Paris.

“I moved around a bit. At first, I was living in London. Then, I moved out to Oxford. I went over to Europe. For a little while there, I was living in the south of France. At the end of it, I ended up just living in an attic in Paris,” she laughs. “I'd pretty much completely run out of money, so I was staying with a friend in this tiny little attic that she lived in over there. I obviously didn't stay in Paris too long.

“I've always loved traveling and experiencing new cultures. I spent a bit of time in Morocco, which I absolutely loved. I find it all very inspiring for me as a writer and as a musician.”

It's hard not to suspect that Thorburn has a different outlook from most musicians her age. There's a sense that music isn't actually her key priority. Her main priority is experience – exploration. Music is merely a component. When she talks about winning Nova's coveted First Break competition, for example, she sheepishly admits she didn't realise it was a big deal until later. Releasing her new EP Glory Days on Liberation Music doesn't faze her.

“It's funny. When I was growing up, I always wrote songs – but I never really said, 'Oh, I'm going to be a singer when I'm older'. It was just something I did,” she says. “My dad had a little studio and writes as well. It was always something we did together and it was never really discussed, as such. You know, 'This is what I'm going to do for the rest of my life'. Maybe I didn't realise I could do something I love so much for a living.

“It wasn't until I was a bit older and started doing gigs and getting focused that I realised this is something I'd actually want to do for a career. The whole Iluka thing was a fresh start. The music I'd released under my own name, I'd actually recorded when I was a lot younger. When I got back from overseas, I wanted a fresh start.”