In 2006, six months before Bic Runga gave birth to a son, and a similar length of time since she'd conceived her third album, Birds (for which she won best album and best solo female artist at the New Zealand music awards later that year), the songwriter spoke of new musical avenues, a "new style or a new band", and possible collaborations with different musicians.
This week, Runga has been chatting again; primarily about her forthcoming new album, Belle which, with its various songwriting co-credits, makes her previous comments all the more prescient.
Having burst through in 1997 with debut album Drive, aptly named given major label Sony allowed her the freedom to produce it, Runga then took five years to follow up with 2002 effort Beautiful Collision, the gap between albums reflecting both a strenuous touring workload and a certain directional seesawing. She then took three years to release 2005's Birds, its introspective themes reflecting the recent death of her father.
More than half a decade later, Runga is once again likely to congest the airwaves with a new collection of songs. With parental demands necessitating a new modus operandi, Runga set forth on a series of collaborations with fellow New Zealand artists, including Dan Hume (Evermore), James Milne (Laurence Arabia) and Ruban and Kody Neilson (The Mint Chicks).
And her fourth album, to be released on Monday, might well be her best.
Somewhat ironically for an artist who has won the Apra Silver Scroll Songwriting Award, Belle works so well primarily because of Runga's decision to open the doors to inspiration from others; in particular, Kody Neilson, former frontman for The Mint Chicks, whose fusion of punk and jazz spirit extends beyond writing credits.
Neilson produced the album and, in doing so, took Runga into some previously unexplored sonic terrain.
"I couldn't have made this record without Kody. He produced it. I didn't have the energy to do it on my own. To try to produce a record and be a full-time mother is pretty much impossible so I gave that job to someone else. I thought it was time to have more fun with it.
"When [only son] Joseph was about 3, I went to my publisher [Paul McLaney, of Mushroom Music] and then to Sony and let them know I was ready to do a record and they introduced me to a whole bunch of writers. Since I'd been away people like Lawrence Arabia had done a couple of successful records and The Mint Chicks and Evermore had been quite huge; there were these young people coming up.
"Co-writing can be a little bit icky, really. But when it's right it's right. And when you find a good co-writer you should probably stick with them.
"It brought something out in me. Belle couldn't have been more introspective so it was good to write with other people and make something that was more for the world than for myself," says Runga, who also called on the expertise of industry high-flyers Justin Gerrish (Vampire Weekend), Tom Rothrock (Beck) and Jon Brion (Kanye West, Aimee Mann, Crystal Method).
"That is one of the good things about being on a major label - there is the network and the budget to make a record like this."
Belle is cluttered with details and textures, from the Motown vibe of opening track Tiny Little Piece Of My Heart to the '60sgirl-pop of obvious single Hello, Hello to the spaghetti Western flourishes of This Girl's Prepared For War, the ethereal title track (a cover of the theme to a French children's television show) and the psychedelic Devil On Tambourine, which benefits greatly from Ruban Neilson's angular approach to electric guitar.
It is a warm-sounding album, yet there is grittiness to the sound, a deliberate attempt by Runga and company to avoid the increasingly "shiny and thin" production found on mainstream radio.
"It might seem strange for me to work with guys from The Mint Chicks, who were a punk band, but there is a big subset of music we agree on and most of it is '60s pop, especially baroque pop like The Zombies. I'm also a big fan of Serge Gainsbourg.
"In hindsight, I don't know how I ever made a record before; I produced and wrote them myself; it was enough to make you crazy, really. It was like vanishing down a rabbit hole every time I made a record," says Runga who, at the age of 35 and with a boy six months away from starting school, explores themes of empowerment, wonder and a little heartache on Belle.
"A song like Everything Is Beautiful And New is definitely about having Joseph and finding a new sense of appreciation for being alive.
"I don't know where I am at the moment. Everything is full of opposites. I'm happier than I've ever been but I'm also ... " Runga trails off, the pause (perhaps) reflecting her split from long-time partner Darryl Ward (father of Joseph) in 2009.
"I don't know; it's hard to say. I guess a song like This Girl's Prepared For War defines where I'm at - ready to find my power. Maybe it is also about finding strength again.
"I think I'm only just experiencing the lifting of the fog ... I got sucked into a housewife vortex and now I'm resurfacing. If you don't get to do your work again you can sometimes lose a bit of confidence. I'm glad I've come back to work."
Fact file
• Since her first single Drive in 1996, a top 10 hit at the age of 20, Bic Runga has won a range of musical honours in New Zealand, including the Apra Silver Scroll Songwriting Award, a brace of Tuis and multi-platinum discs.
• Her 1997 debut album Drive went platinum seven times; Beautiful Collision followed in 2002 (11 times platinum) and Birds in 2005 (triple platinum). Belle, her fourth album, is released on Monday.
• In January 2006, Runga was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the New Zealand New Year honours list.
Hear her
• Belle is released on Monday.
• Bic Runga plays the following dates in the South: Knox Church, Dunedin, December 6-7; First Presbyterian Church, Invercargill, December 8.
