Julia Jacklin was delighted to release her first album last year – and already worried about her next one.

“It was a case of “oh no, I’ve written this one, so when do I do the next one?’,” laughs the cheerful Aussie.

“It took a while to come out, it was over a year from recording it until I actually released it, so I was already starting to think about the next thing before it was even released. The next album should be out before I’m 28 (she’s currently 26).

“The idea of a second album is a lot scarier, so I’m trying not to think about that because if it gets into my head it’ll affect the writing process. So I’m trying to pretend that no-one is going to listen to it!”

Julia had targeted funding and making her debut album by the age of 25, a goal she reached with the release of Don’t Let The Kids Win last summer. While her main aim was simply to get the album released, the songs created a deeper impact than she was expecting, with their mixture of thoughtful lyrics, wry humour and varied melodies suddenly marking her out as a rising star Australian music.

She has since found herself touring Europe, with a date at King Tut’s booked in for next Monday February 27, and she was able to quit her job in a factory last summer to focus on a music career full time.

“It’s super weird. I’m still trying to figure out how to do this and be a business person as well as a musician, and do it all on not much sleep, so it’s been a big learning curve for sure.

“It’s different every week, depending on how things are going, but I feel in a good place now because I’ve finally got into the swing of things.

“Last year the change was so quick that it was hard to adapt, but I feel like I understand the touring life a bit better now.”

One thing that helps Julia is that she had classical training for her voice when she was younger, although it wasn’t until her late teens that she picked up a guitar and started making the music that she performs now.

“I definitely rebelled against it when I was a teenager because, well, I was a teenager,” she chuckles.

“But now I’m very grateful because it helped me to have a strong voice and know my voice well. It has helped me to learn how to look after it and how to master it, which has been really helpful since I started touring and singing every night. I’m not blowing my voice out, touchwood!”

It took time for Julia to discover the style that runs through Don’t Let The Kids Win. Britney Spears is listed as one early influence (she says 2000 single Lucky is a particular favourite) but her own songs owe more to the likes of Father John Misty than pop acts, capable of providing melancholy words and witty turns of phrase alike.

“It took a while to get humour in there,” adds Julia.

“I wasn’t sure if it worked well in my songs and it takes a bit of time for any songwriter to find their way. At first I was always very serious and sad because that’s what I thought a folk song was, and it took time to realise that you should inject your own personality into it, or else it feels weird to perform and you don’t come across as genuine.”

The songstress cut her teeth in Sydney’s local scene for a few years, although she fears she might be one of the last generation to do so.

“We’ve got a problem with every single venue closing,” she says.

“That’s not healthy at all – we’ve lost most of them now, and the last shining beacon was the Newtown Social Club, which has closed while I was away. That’s where I got all my early gigs and where I did my single launch, and it’s a tragedy for the music scene there what’s happened.”

Despite outgrowing those small early gigs, there’s no sign of a big head developing for the singer.

“I’ve never really had massive goals, outside of the album thing,” she concludes.

“I just want to keep making good stuff and that I’m doing it for the right reasons. It should be released because I like it, rather than trying to make sure that my name is in people’s heads.”

Julia Jacklin, King Tut’s, Monday, £10.50, 8.30pm

JONATHAN GEDDES