Taking The Space, Patience And Time To Do 'My Queen' Justice

Diana Anaid has been a solid contender in the Australian rock scene since she burst onto it in the mid-'90s. While the past few years have been quiet, with Anaid taking a self-imposed hiatus from the music industry, her work has always been consistent and her latest album, My Queen, is no different - Anaid's fans and the wider community have been hugely receptive to the new work. "It's been really lovely," she shares. "We've had some really great reviews from some really cool industry types who know their stuff; so getting a bit of vindication there for the production and the songwriting, which is fantastic.

Of her recent shows, Anaid reveals, "I've been playing a few of the new songs as well as the old favourites from the old records, and the crowds seem to really like it. There's a couple that go down really well and people seem to be getting them before the end of the number finishes even, so that's good. It's really nice."

The hiatus offered Anaid a period where she could work on all facets of her life.

"I guess I spent a bit of time reconnecting with family and friends that I hadn't seen a lot of. After spending a few years in Sydney and then a few years in the States, I sort of lost touch with a few of my close friends and didn't get to spend as much time with family as I would've liked to. So [the break was] just a bit of a chance to reconnect with those more simple and heart connections. But I also did a lot of songwriting in that time and I was really giving myself a lot of space and patience and time to just write and rewrite and co-write and pre-produce, and just get really in the whole creation of the songs," she explains.

"It's probably harking back to my '99 album I Don't Think I'm Pregnant," she says of her latest release, "[for] which I also had a lot of time to write the songs and work on the production and do co-writing, and I was in a really comfortable space where I just wanted to give myself the time to do the songs justice and make sure I had the right songs coming out following my first album. So I have kind of been in that sort of space before where it's just such a nice, creative, relaxing space to make a record."

Anaid is currently wrapping up an Australian and New Zealand tour with Adam Ant, which is something she says has been "amazing". "I was just asked to do this tour solo, so I'm up on stage with my little guitar and I am trying to give a full-bodied performance of songs like Perfect Family and Addiction — songs that are quite rocking. So it kind of takes all of my energy to be able to embody the sound of a full band just on my own… And it's lovely being a support act, because I just jump on and do 40 minutes and jump off. It's not too difficult. And they're just all really lovely, they're just all really lovely people, and I feel really lucky to be embraced by them."