Melbourne soulstress Meg Mac (aka Megan McInerney) has long been hailed as a 'next big thing' in Australia and the US. Now she's delivering a rootsy debut album, Low Blows. And, auspiciously, McInerney describes it as "the next chapter of me."

McInerney is an inherently grassroots singer-songwriter. Raised in an Irish-Australian family, she was exposed to folk and legacy soul - Sam Cooke a childhood favourite. The Sydney-native studied music at the Western Australian Academy Of Performing Arts. On graduating, she coyly uploaded songs composed on piano to triple j's Unearthed platform - the ensuing praise culminating in her winning 2014's 'Unearthed Artist Of The Year' award. McInerney signed to the independent LittleBIGMAN Records, her eponymous EP revealing a modishly glitchy cover of Bill Withers' '70s classic Grandma's Hands. She'd be nominated for two ARIAs. Meanwhile, McInerney generated buzz Stateside, where she's gigged extensively since 2015's SXSW. Hip hop mogul Lyor Cohen nabbed her for 300 Entertainment. McInerney's pop(ular) single Roll Up Your Sleeves was even synced for the hit TV show Girls.

Still, McInerney received the greatest validation when she supported neo-soul icon D'Angelo as he toured North America behind his #BlackLivesMatter-themed Black Messiah. "He's really nice," she drawls of their exchanges. McInerney closely observed the Virginian live. "I feel like I just soaked it all up - and I got so inspired... I think the biggest thing was probably his interaction with the audience. You can really feel how powerful his music is and how much it means to the audience. It wasn't just them watching him as a singer on stage. It was like this magic thing that just happened in the room and everyone was a part of it. Every night was special."

McInerney has an aura of bashfulness, being a reticent interviewee. Yet, creatively, she is boss. McInerney lauds her indie status - she's free of commercial "pressures". If Low Blows has taken ages, it's because she sought the "right" (read: empathetic) collaborators. Though McInerney had previously recorded with M-Phazes, she decided to hire the US crew Niles City Sound - comprised of former White Denim members Josh Block and Austin Jenkins, plus Chris Vivion. She'd admired their production on Leon Bridges' Coming Home. Initially, McInerney travelled to Fort Worth, Texas for a day to "test out" the musicians' vintage studio. "We recorded one of my songs live to tape," she recalls. "I'd never heard my voice on tape before - and that whole experience of playing live, it's a live band, it was so much energy. That's what got me really excited - and that's why I ended up making my album with them. I think working with them definitely has influenced the sound of the album."

Ironically, McInerney penned the LP's title-track (and lead single) back in her Melbourne bedroom as a reminder to be assertive. "I'm a pretty quiet person," she shares. "Sometimes, when I really need to say something or speak up for myself, I just say nothing - and then later I'm like, 'Ohhh.'" Indeed, McInerney's lyrics are largely confessional - and cathartic. "A lot of the songs are really personal to me or from my point of view and about how I feel," she notes. "I guess each song is kinda a bit different, but [it's] usually something I'm dealing with. If I'm struggling with something, or feeling something strongly, I'll write about it. It helps me to get through it or to understand something or let it out. So most of the songs have some sort of emotion, 'Meg emotion', attached to them."

Oddly, Low Blows manages to evoke both Adele and Courtney Barnett. Contemporary R&B (and soul) is predominantly electronic - and, as such, old school purists have welcomed McInerney's organicism. However, she's reluctant to participate in any cultural debates about music. "I tend to always love vocals and singing and the feeling of a song - and the song," McInerney states. "If I feel like it's a cool song, or if there's an attitude to it, that's what I react to more than maybe the stylistic stuff." In fact, she doesn't necessarily classify herself as 'soul'. Lately, McInerney has been listening to Father John Misty - and the perennial Bob Dylan ("I really like his songwriting and how he can tell a story").

Brisbane's Grace Sewell - aligned with RCA and residing in the US - has struggled to break through without an in-depth Australian success story. In contrast, McInerney is adamantly, and wisely, retaining her local base. As it happens, this festival regular will return to Splendour In The Grass fresh from another international jaunt. "I just live to do shows - and that kinda keeps me sane," she enthuses. "I write songs so that I can sing them. When I don't get to sing them, it feels really weird."