Natalie Imbruglia recalls her worst audition: “I remember feeling icky”

Natalie Imbruglia says she needs to keep moving when she writes music. She walks in circles to find melodies, a habit that became difficult to accommodate in a tiny studio while making Algorithm, her seventh album and first since 2021.

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I walk around in circles to get the melodies, to catch them.

The record draws inspiration from Talking Heads and Grace Jones, pairing bright, dance-oriented production with emotionally complicated lyrics. On “Who Dimmed The Lights,” Imbruglia writes about her mental health unraveling during perimenopause. She says the condition affected more than her hormones, bringing brain fog, reduced spatial awareness and a worsening of her ADHD, diagnosed in midlife.

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Perimenopause is not just about hormones. It's to do with your mind. Your brain needs oestrogen to function, so when the levels fluctuate, it affects your spatial awareness.

The symptoms also intensified the stage fright she has experienced throughout her career. During a tour, she suffered severe anxiety, became highly sensitive to sound and struggled to process questions. Even simple choices, such as whether she wanted still or sparkling water, could overwhelm her before a performance. She says her behavior became a nightmare for her team.

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I become sensitive to sound, so it feels like you're screaming at me if you're talking normally.

After one concert, Imbruglia told co-writers David Sneddon and Anu Pillai that she might have to quit because she could not cope with the way she treated people before shows. They helped her understand that resisting her fear was making it worse. Accepting that nervousness was natural before performing helped her regain perspective, and the improvised conversation inspired “Upside Down.”

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Guys, I think I'm going to have to quit my job because I can't cope with how I'm treating people before the show.