Lisa Mitchell

Following last month's release of her debut album Wonder, Lisa Mitchell is gearing up for a national tour. Though the album tour is her first, the young Australian Idol star has had plenty of experience touring in support of, among others, Old Man River, the Panics and Whitley, and earlier this year lived the festival dream by getting billed alongside Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen at Glastonbury. "It was amazing, a really, really, really surreal experience. I'd always heard about the legend of Glastonbury, so to actually be there, wellies on, trudging through the mud to get to the stage was incredible."

While in the UK and under the supervision of acclaimed producer Anthony Whiting (Arctic Monkeys, Sia, Zero 7), Mitchell commenced work on Wonder in a lavish London studio. But it wasn't until the homesick songstress returned to Australia that the album really began to take shape. "I ended up basically coming back to Australia and re-recording a lot of it with Dan Hume [of Evermore], who I worked on my EPs with. We recorded Neopolitan Dreams in his bedroom in Melbourne with a couple of mics."

The laidback and lo-fi recording style results is a beautiful collection of folky gems. Sweet and poetic Sunday morning listening, it shows the influence of her dad's record collection - Dylan, Cat Stevens, Van Morrison, and the Velvet Underground ("Lou Reed makes me so happy"). There are bluesy twangs on 'So Jealous', a hectic harmonica breakdown on 'Sidekick', and a more electronic, engineered sound on new single 'Coin Laundry'.

The sweet sibilance of her lyricism on these tracks lingers long after the xylophone finishes reverberating and it is on this aspect of songwriting that Mitchell places greatest import. "I am just one of those people who writes things down a lot, whether it's a poem or just a little thought tangent. I guess the songs come from that. The lyrics are my main interest for songwriting."

The 19-year-old from Albury has come a long way since the nation first laid eyes on her as a 16-year-old contestant on Idol. "We have conflicting interests, Australian Idol and I," she candidly reflects, although "through being on the show I got in contact with a lot of people that I still work with today, which is vital to where I am now."

Wonder is out now through Warner Music. Lisa Mitchell plays the Metro on Sat 3 Oct.

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