Abby Dobson - no longer thebride

Mon 16th Apr, 2007 in Features

She has one of those distinctive voices that you recognise immediately but can’t quite place. There’s something vaguely familiar about the Blasko-style huskiness; it sounds kind of like that girl who sang a hit song about a decade ago. Take a listen and see if you can pick it.

Can’t guess? Well, the song you’re probably thinking of is Even When You’re Sleeping, the band is Leonardo’s Bride and the singer is Abby Dobson. The band may have broken up and the song may have more or less faded from your memory, but Abby Dobson is still very much around. If you haven’t heard from her in a while, it’s just because she’s been busy creating and compiling the songs that will feature on her yet-to-be-released debut solo album, Rise Up. “I just kind of dropped off the radar a little bit,” Dobson admits. “I’ve kept writing and always wanted to make a record… I’ve travelled a bit, did some work on Paul Mac’s record, and kind of just had this idea of an album that I wanted to make. It just took me awhile to go where I was happy with what I was doing.”

The album is something that Dobson has wanted to do for awhile, even though it’s been some time since she’s released anything independently. “I just took the scenic route, I suppose,” she laughs. “I didn’t want to release something I was unhappy with. I guess I just persevered until I found something that I thought was beautiful… there was no point in releasing something for the sake of it, even though there were was a little bit of pressure from other people. It feels right now. Thank God!”

Rise Up will showcase not only Abby Dobson’s songwriting talent but also that of some of Sydney’s best musicians, including Robert F Cranny, who has worked with the likes of Sarah Blasko, and the multi-talented Paul Mac. The association with Paul came about when he asked Abby to sing on one of his records and she returned the favour. I ask Dobson what it was like working with Paul Mac, whose musical background seems vastly different to her own. “When Paul first asked me to work with him, I was thrilled because I thought, – œThis will be something different’, and I was looking forward to that. When you put the songs that I did with Paul Mac next to songs that I’ve done with Leonardo’s Bride or even [my solo] songs… it all still sounds like me singing.” Dobson laughs. “For some reason everything I do just sounds like me!”

Though she’s been missing from the airwaves in recent years, her songs have still been featured on a number of soundtracks, most notably on the hugely successful Secret Life of Us a few years ago. Mournful, melancholy songs like Don’t Ask for More and I’m Not Missing You underscored Alex and Evan’s rifts and featured on the show’s official soundtracks, but Dobson doesn’t think that they’ve necessarily attracted an audience directly. “I’ve kept a pretty low public profile, so I think a lot of people know the songs [from the show] but don’t know me. Now I’ve got a Myspace page so I get people writing to me a lot which is a nice way to interact with people from all walks of life. Particularly Even When I’m Sleeping – people still really seem to really love that song. But I think it was time to leave Leonardo’s Bride and get into [telling] my own stories. It seemed like a natural thing to do.”

Dobson is giving Melbourne fans a sneak preview of the upcoming album this week when she brings some friends to the Northcote Social Club to play some of her new songs. “I’ve just done a bunch of shows in Sydney so now I’m just concentrating on Melbourne. It’s a way of re-introducing myself to Melbourne before the record comes out. I’ve just recently moved there…it feels kind of like a new start.”