The name Brooke Fraser might not jump out at music fans in Asia, but that's about to change. The New Zealand songstress has three hit albums in her home country, plays sell-out shows in the US, and is now breaking big in Europe. Her latest album, Flags, recently entered the top 10 in Germany, and lead single Something in the Water is making her one of the most popular artists on radio. Now, just before she plays her first Asian concerts in Singapore - and, on August 18, at Grappa's Cellar, in Central - she is starting to make inroads in the East. The 27-year-old started her career young, signing her first record deal with Sony when she was 18. Her honeyed vocals matched with clever songwriting that paired wry metaphors with memorable choruses saw her debut album, 2003's What to Do With Daylight, debut at No 1 in New Zealand's pop charts as she attained an early fame that took her by surprise. The album stayed in New Zealand's charts for 66 weeks. By the time Fraser released 2006's follow-up, Albertine, she had moved to Sydney, Australia, to get out of the spotlight. That album went to the top of the charts in New Zealand, too, and she went on to pick up a clutch of the country's best music awards. She was soon on a non-stop touring schedule around Australasia and the US, pouring her heart out every night in what she says were very intense, personal songs that took a heavy emotional toll. Burnt out, she decided to take a year off, recharging her batteries and questioning whether to go on. 'From a selfish perspective, or if I was purely looking to live a cosy, comfy life, certainly that's when I could have packed it in,' says a now-relaxed-sounding Fraser over the phone from her Sydney home, which she shares with husband Scott Ligertwood, a popular Christian rock musician. Fraser is also a devout Christian who in her spare time writes songs for successful Christian worship pop group Hillsong. 'But then there's the other element to my life which is to know that music is something I've been given, and it's an incredible opportunity and music is such a powerful language and for whatever reason, I can speak a little part of the dialect of that, and I can hopefully make music that brings hope and comfort and life to certain people.' After the intense experience that was Albertine - named for a child she met in Rwanda in her role as a World Vision ambassador - she decided to take a different approach for her next album. 'Albertine was a little bit of an intense one,' she says. 'I love it, and I'm really proud of the material on that record, but playing that material for three years was pretty hardcore.' With Flags, released four years later, she took her own voice pretty much out of the equation, instead assuming the voices of various characters to tell stories that still packed a heavy punch - just without the personal, emotional toll. 'I was still able to tell stories through songs that were maybe stories about hardship and the realities of life,' she explains, 'but [by] telling them through different voices so it wasn't so much me pouring out my deepest, darkest tragedies every single night.' Flags, which has been released in about 40 countries, is an album filled with songs about examining identity issues, such as culture, death, grief, injustice and family. Recorded in the US, it is more countrified than her previous folksy pop offerings, and at times decidedly more upbeat. With Something in the Water, Fraser has a real thigh-slapper, a sing-along-at-the-top-of-your-voice jaunt that veers towards Dixie Chicks, a sharp departure from her more sombre, inward-looking previous work. 'It's pretty crazy. I deliberately lowered my expectations when I was about to put out this album and the song, and particularly in my home country New Zealand. I knew what people expected from me, and I knew Something in the Water would not be it,' she says. 'I really didn't know if the reaction would be good or bad, and certainly at first when my label took the song to radio, people were a little confused - but once people got used to it, it really tripped across the line and people love it. It's been such a rewarding song for me personally, because it's such a lively song and it's so much fun to play live, that it's really shifted the dynamic of my whole live show ... I'm really enjoying the change of having stuff that people can just stomp along to.' Fraser is also enjoying a change of scenery. Having cut her teeth in New Zealand and then making her mark in the US, she is now concentrating on Europe, whose easy charms are winning her over. 'In America, the country is so big. We just did a van tour a few months ago - you can drive for six hours and you're still in the same country, but in Europe if you drive for six hours, you've driven through three countries and there's all these different cultures and languages and cuisines that are so stimulating.' It also helps that Flags is doing so well in Europe and has hit the top 10 in Germany, the world's third-biggest music market. 'The Europeans just seem to really get what I'm trying to do and are getting behind it and supporting it and it's really exciting.' Has she been surprised by its success on the continent? 'Yes, definitely,' Fraser says with a laugh. 'Especially with this album, I had no expectations. It's been four years since my last record, I thought people might have forgotten about me and certainly when I was thinking about it, I was thinking New Zealand, Australia, America and Canada, my markets at that time. So to have the album that's broken through to all these new places and be received like it has been is crazy. I almost don't believe it. It wasn't until I did a promo trip to Germany a couple of months ago and actually heard the song [Something in the Water] on the radio and had all the experiences of doing press and media over there that I was like, 'This is really happening, it's quite bizarre'.' Asia, meanwhile, will be an entirely new experience. Fraser has never been to Hong Kong, but she has friends from New Zealand who lived here for a while. 'They had a big cockroach problem in their apartment, but they loved it. Great food, great culture, a lot of wonderful bespoke clothing they had made. I've only ever heard great things about Hong Kong.' She says concert-goers in Hong Kong can expect a 'pretty fun, pretty laid-back' show, peppered with jokes. 'I'll be very excited, because it's the first time I've ever been able to play in Hong Kong. I have high expectations of the audience, I'm hoping everyone will come and bring their enthusiasm and excitement and I will bring mine and we'll all have a good time together.' Brooke Fraser Live in Hong Kong, Aug 18, 8pm, Grappa's Cellar, B/F Jardine House, 1 Connaught Place, Central, HK$280 (door), HK$250 (advance). Inquiries: 2521 2322
