IS THAT THE DEVIL IN HOPE SANDOVAL?

Hope Sandoval doesn’t give out much to strangers. Much like the music that she makes, both as the voice and leader of seminal smoke-screened indie band Mazzy Star, and under her solo project The Warm Inventions, Sandoval’s manner in conversation is fittingly guarded. Nonetheless, sitting down for a late-night speaker-phone chat with the singer reveals she is currently on tour promoting her latest album Through The Devil Softly, recorded with veteran multi-instrumentalist Colm O ciosoig (of My Bloody Valentine, and essentially one half of The Warm Inventions). It is a thing of rich beauty, its songs snaking their way into the subconscious of the listener. Sandoval and O Ciosoig carefully honed their songs into a slow-burning, intricate masterpiece. Eager to hear her perform for the first time on our shores, fans await the live rendition of the project with enormous excitement. Yet Sandoval confesses she finds touring a difficult undertaking; “It’s quite awkward to be on a stage in front of 400 people; you know, it’s hard, it’s not really a natural thing.” Sandoval famously insists on singing in near-darkness; and likes to write and record at night. “I just do what I can to make myself comfortable so I can lose myself in the music, which is really what I’m there for.” Accompanying Sandoval and O Ciosoig are the Irish group Dirt Blue Gene, who are also performing a support set for each show on this Australian tour, and from whom Sandoval claims a permanent bass player in Al Brown. “They are amazing,” says Sandoval, “we just love their music and we asked them if they would like to come and play some of our songs, and now they’ll be coming on tour with us, it’s worked out really well.” Even with an entirely new band at the helm, Through the Devil Softly echoes a lot of the sounds and feelings from Mazzy Star records; shimmering reverb-laden guitars and ghostly, subliminal vocal layers a haunting reminder of the intoxicating work Sandoval laid down with long time collaborator David Roback. “We still work together, never stopped working,” says Sandoval, dispelling the long-misunderstood notion that her and Roback had left Mazzy Star behind altogether. “I mean, we live in two different countries, but we are still writing and we will be doing a record soon.” A lot of the songs on this new record reflect a darkness inside, some creature of emotion lurking beneath the skin; does Sandoval wrestle her own demons through her music? “I don’t know. Maybe. Sometimes.”

Jun 25, Enmore Theatre, 130 Enmore Rd, $66.60-77.10, 9020 9666, enmoretheatre.com.au