Julia Deans, singer and primary songwriter with longstanding New Zealand rock act Fur Patrol, is standing in a "dingy" lane in central Melbourne, phone to her ear. She's got some explaining to do.
Given she has embarked on a solo career in parallel with the efforts of her ensemble, it would be nice to know exactly how she distinguishes between tracks that best suit her band and those that represent a more tender side.
Her latest EP comprises five songs (the single A New Dialogue and four demos), all of which hint she has swapped the tight jeans of rock for a breezy dress. Deans, always one to make a fashion statement, laughs at the suggestion.
"With the EP, it is so stripped-back and simple, I guess. With the [forthcoming, solo] album, the songs are recorded with more instruments as opposed to the demos ... but it is still very tres femme.
"I think it's more a different spin. It's not a gender thing ... I can't really explain what it is. Some songs I've written haven't seemed appropriate for the band, or some we've given a go and thought, 'nah, it's not really working'."
Deans plans to road-test a range of new material on New Zealand audiences over the next couple of weeks, her solo tour including gigs in Oamaru and Dunedin next weekend.
"I'll be playing acoustic guitar. I guess it is about introducing the songs, and me playing as a solo artist."
The tour is the latest chapter in a solo journey on which she has already taken more than a few early steps.
Deans, in her early 30s, has collaborated with Samuel Flynn Scott, HDU, Tiki Taane and others, and has played acoustic gigs, including performances on ferries plying Cook Strait.
"It started with the thing with Tiki Taane," she explains. "I have also done a track with The Nomad for his new album, a song for a couple of guys in Auckland called Tokyo Street Gang. I've channelled Madonna/Donna Summer for that. And I'm also working with my brother at the moment. He's putting together an album with Mu and Dallas from Fat Freddy's Drop.
"I feel like branching out now. I think it's about having the confidence to do it as well.
"I think I have come to realise over the last couple of years that - without wanting to sound like I'm bragging - I am quite good at singing. I have been discovering that instrument on a whole new level, experimenting with my voice a little bit more."
Want proof? Listen to the new EP, particularly title track A New Dialogue, on which Deans shows off country trills. Elsewhere, the spare approach of demo tracks The Wish You Wish You Had, Teeth For Hands, Everything Is Coming To A Halt and Distant Fire allows Deans a quiet space in which to soar.
The EP also reasserts the songwriting prowess so evident early in Fur Patrol's career.
Remember this is a band that in 2001 was nominated for four of the big prizes at the New Zealand Music Awards (single of the year, album of the year, songwriter of the year, best female vocalist).
The addition of another three production-type nominations meant the group filled all but one category for which it was eligible, though it eventually took just the one, Deans being judged best female vocalist.
Deans has also penned a No 1 single, Lydia, off the platinum-selling 1999 album Pet. In fact, A New Dialogue is not too dissimilar to the stripped-back nature of Fur Patrol's last album, Local Kid, released in 2008 and notable for the absence of long-time lead guitarist Steve Wells, who had left the previous year.
"I quite like the less-is-more approach to things in general," Deans says, though she is quick to add that her solo album, due for a midwinter release on New Zealand label Tardus, is likely to be more bombastic than the recent EP.
"We are battling that at the moment, trying to work out what to leave in and what to pull out."
When Deans says "we", she is referring to herself and boyfriend David Wernham, the live-sound engineer for Shihad, who has recorded the tracks and with whom she is working on the final mixes.
Asked whether that relationship has contributed to the intimate feel of her latest batch of songs, she pauses.
"I imagine it would. I can't give any insight on that yet because we're still mixing it. He mixed A New Dialogue and has captured the intimacy of that; there is a really warm tenderness to it."
Other friends have contributed, too. Dino Karlis, of former Dunedin sonic explorers HDU, provided the initial impetus on drums.
"He and his wife moved to Berlin the year before last. He'd talked for ages about working on an album with me, so I thought, 'sweet, I'll go to Berlin with my boyfriend'. Dino loves pop and country. He is a sucker for female singer-songwriters, as well. We always have big music-swapping sessions."
Following recording sessions in Berlin, Deans headed to Christchurch, where she utilised the talents of jazz school musicians with whom she had previously worked.
Aaron Tokona, previously of Weta, also plays guitar, while Shihad's Tom Larkin offered his Melbourne studio for mixing.
"I can't wait to have it finished now," Deans enthuses.
"With Fur Patrol, we have the basic building blocks there already: these are the instruments and this is the way they have fitted our medium. With this, I've been able to put whatever I want around it."
• SEE HER
Julia Deans performs at the Penguin Club, Oamaru, on Saturday, April 10; and at Chicks Hotel, Port Chalmers on Sunday, April 11 (supported by Marlon Williams, of The Unfaithful Ways).
