Opening in Newcastle in February, Midnight Oil's Resist tour - which is to be their last - has taken the singer-songwriter from Vancouver to New York City, Paris, Utrecht, London, Berlin and Brussels, with the iconic band weaving Stringer's soulful voice into anthems like Dreamland, Power and the Passion and Beds are Burning.

The acclaimed singer-songwriter even did a solo set to warm-up the crowd for the Oils' performance at Toronto's Massey Hall.

The historical weight of each show is not lost on her.

"I can't overstate the respect I have for them - they're just an incredible rock'n'roll band, just mind-blowing," Stringer says.

"And the energy every single night is 150 per cent. It's exciting and moving and emotional, particularly because they're pulling up stumps, at least on big touring.

"And it's really amazing to be overseas and see people in America, Canada and parts of Europe who have gotten so much from the Oils as well. To see the impact they've had all over the world has been really incredible. It still feels a bit surreal."

While Stringer's assured literary approach to storytelling and knack for arresting melodies is well-established, the Melburnian has no doubt the Oils have soaked in.

"Jim Moginie and Martin Rotsey - their guitar playing and choice of chords and structure has seared into my mind now," she says. "It might directly inform the songs I write - I've learned a lot from them.

"They're so present for every show, that's been really inspiring. To see how much they give the audience. There's no phoning it in, ever. I don't think that I ever phone it in, but it has inspired me to remember what a privilege it is to be playing for people. I think they recognise that and respect it a lot."

A handful of dates remain on Midnight Oil's final lap, but Stringer's seizing a week-long gap in the schedule to take her band on the road to play her latest record First Time Really Feeling, which just won the AIR Award for Best Independent Blues and Roots Album.

She believes it may be her most personal work.

"I've noticed with First Time Really Feeling that I was able to speak to my own experience a bit more," Stringer says. "That has a lot to do with being sober and changing the relationship with myself, which meant I had more channels open.

"I have always been interested in the common human experience, but now I think more of the minutiae as opposed to the big story arc. I'm writing stuff that's more based on a specific feeling or phase of your life."

First Time Really Feeling is indicative of Stringer's purist approach to songwriting - poetic stories that document the human condition, conveyed with a timeless pop sensibility untethered to trend or gimmick.

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In this way, Stringer's music is comparable to national treasure Paul Kelly - indelibly Australian and often profoundly affecting.

"I do have strong connections to these songs because they're quite personal, I haven't written a lot of autobiographical stuff," she says. "I find a lot in the songs every time I sing and play them. I find new stuff in them."

Growing up surrounded by books - her mother a literature teacher, her father "an avid reader" - it's no surprise that Stringer writes vivid imagery, evoking the terrain in which the story unfolds.

Take, for example, the opening of the hymnal ballad The Waning of the Sun: "Strange light, evensong, river gums paint on the glassy Murray, we've been smoking and the silty dust strips our feet bare as a baby."

Or this snapshot from closing track My History: "You say I never talk about my history - close your eyes, can you smell the rain on the reserve dripping through the pines, winter, Melbourne, end of the '90s."

Stringer explains, "It helps to ground the narrative somewhere. I've moved around a lot since I was in my late teens. For me, to sort out my own memories, and the chronology of my life, location is very important. Because I've lived in 50 places, I'm able to stick a pin in stories better if I'm feeling where they are. I always enjoyed writing short stories too."

Stringer has had few moments to reflect on this momentous year but once her own touring and Midnight Oil commitments have come to an end, the songwriter plans to bury herself in her work.

"I'm going to take time off playing and just write, retreat into that zone," Stringer says. "And read, which is the other thing I don't have as much time for. That's the plan."