Inga Liljestrom and band play at the Vanguard every Sunday in July from 7pm. Sydney songstress Inga Liljestrom kicks off a month-long residency at the Vanguard in Newtown this weekend. The jazz-trained singer, whose lush soundscapes have earned comparisons with Bjork and Portishead, is using her debut residency to workshop and develop new material for her next album, expected out early next year.

"I've decided that's the way to do it this time - I've never really done it before," Liljestrom says. Taking a break for now from the electronic elements and Nordic influences that characterised her 2006 album - which is just about to be released in Europe through a French label - Liljestrom will be accompanied by players on drums, guitar, bass and violin or cello. She will bring some unusual instruments to the Vanguard.

"I'm playing a variety of instruments such as ukulele, toy piano and auto-harp. American folk singers like to use auto-harps, they're a strange little thing that has a beautiful sound. They're used a lot in country music and bluegrass.

I'm choosing those instruments for the sound, to break up the sound a little bit - they create a different atmosphere each time [you play one]." Liljestrom hand-picked the support acts for her residency, including Liz Martin, who opens this Sunday ("she's a little bit country, a bit pop and a fabulous singer"), and Gareth Malone. "He's very much a '40s singer; he's got a gorgeous voice, really unique .

.. I think he's going to be big.

"You want the whole night to be like a gift for the audience." Inga Liljestrom and band play at the Vanguard every Sunday in July from 7pm.