Album Review: Sarah Blasko - Eternal Return

Eternal Return is a portrait of the artist as a pop love songwriter, complete with the range of feels that one little word tries to capture.

Opener I Am Ready draws a listener in while I Wanna Be Your Man is gender bending at its best. When she snarls, "I wanna be your..." and trails, well, it's more than a little bit fabulous — Annie Lennox, David Bowie and Gaga would all be proud. Single I'd Be Lost is catchy as, while Maybe This Time claims victory from the jaws of relationship failure's defeat. There's something abstractly Peter Allen about this album too; maybe a love of melody and direct lyrics. It's an attitude that doesn't quite fit into one place but is somehow still really relatable (Only One with its glorious synth and happy declaration "I'm gonna show off my love" is perhaps what does it — just a musical expression of gentle but pure joy). Luxurious is a slow and direct ode to the right one (whoever they are), while Say What You Want has a bit more spark and, in a retro-styled record, could easily be the big hair and big crowd moment. Final track Without is a rare solo Blasko offering for this album, and the solo songwriting and delivery style brings home a clear rejection of too much time alone.

Her declaration, "If you have not love, you have nothing at all" is a direct piece of life advice from Aunty Sarah — dear listener, get your priorities straight!