I saw SARAH BLASKO perform live last month, at the Wellington show of her tour of New Zealand supporting The Brunettes. Unfortunately, as she began her set, the fries I’d ordered arrived, and I became preoccupied with eating them. It’s a sorry excuse, I know, for missing a performer who was recently dubbed Australia’s Best Female Artist in the recent ARIA awards – and now, having heard her third album, ‘As Day Follows Night’, I wish I’d paid her more attention. Blasko, as understated a performer she might be, is without a doubt a talented up-and-coming musician, and certainly, should have been prioritised above a bowl of hot and sliced potatoes.

It’s Blasko’s approach towards instrumentation on ‘As Day Follows Night’, that sets her apart from the rest of Australia’s female singer-songwriters. Whereas most would be content with an acoustic guitar to strum along with, she made a conscious decision to use guitars as little as possible on this album. The result is something that sounds modern and organic: lots of thumping percussion; stomping piano chords; and an ever-present undercurrent of strings. It’s a minor difference, perhaps, but a vital one - in that it establishes Blasko as a bona fide musician, rather than one of hundreds of girls with guitars... which is just so passé, dahling.

This sound is a direct result of her collaborating with Björn Yttling, of indie group Peter, Björn and John (‘Young Folks’) fame, who produced the album, and oversaw its recording in Stockholm, Sweden. Yttling also worked on Swedish songstress Lykke Li’s 2008 debut ‘Youth Novels’, and the similarities between the two albums is tangible, particularly in tracks such as Blasko’s ‘Bird on a Wire’, with its subtle string bass line, and ‘No Turning Back’. Indeed, ‘As Day Follows Night’ is testament to just how much influence a producer can have on a musician’s sound – and certainly, Yttling’s contribution works well for Blasko.

Blasko’s strengths lie within her voice and her song-writing ability, and the two complement each other well: while she sings sweetly, her lyrics are single-minded and resolute, sometimes even to the point of being biting, such as where she asks ‘Is My Baby Yours?’ and describes her lover and herself as being “like a bitter night, and a broken day” in ‘Night & Day’. The single, ‘All I Want’, has received a decent amount of airplay on radio stations both in New Zealand and Australia, and also appeared on the Ministry of Sound’s ‘Chillout Sessions XII’ compilation released this year. It well deserves the exposure: it’s a haunting, spacious track that finds Blasko reflecting on her wants and her needs.

As exemplified by her success in this year’s ARIA awards, which recognise the best of the best in Australia’s music industry, Blasko is without a doubt one to watch in coming years: a versatile songwriter and a sensitive performer, ‘As Night Follows Day’ is both self-assured and playful, and showcases an artist entering the best years of her career. I’m already looking forward to seeing her at next year’s Laneway festival – and this time, she will have my undivided attention.