MISSY HIGGINS
Passionate and sincere, Australian singer-songwriter Missy Higgins is a welcome relief in a music landscape littered with disposable pop. The 24-year-old Melbourne native has enjoyed phenomenal success in her homeland, and a growing fanbase in the U.S., in spite of — or perhaps because she shuns the usual synthetic packaging and tabloid tackiness. Instead she's adopted a more timeless approach, relying on her undeniable songs and unforgettable live performances to forge a genuine connection with her audience.
Higgins’ new album, On A Clear Night (released in North America in February this year), retains the irresistible melodies and piercing lyrics of her critically lauded debut The Sound of White, which was Australia’s best-selling album of 2005. On A Clear Night (certified triple platinum in Australia) was awarded the Highest Selling Australian album of 2007 and saw Missy crowned with yet another ARIA Award (Australia’s Grammy) as the country’s “Best Female Artist” for the second time.
This time around, the album benefits from the empathetic production of Mitchell Froom, who is known for his work with Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, and Crowded House. The quiet strength of the new songs reflects Higgins’ newfound confidence and changing worldview. A major star in Australia, she has grown up in public and On A Clear Night is the diary she's kept along the way.
"The album hopefully reflects where I'm at right now," Higgins says. "I feel a lot clearer about who I am and what I want to be doing with my music. I've moved on from the confusion and self-doubt I felt when I was just starting out. That's the main difference between the old songs and the new ones."
It's certainly been quite a journey. Higgins began her music career singing standards with her older brother's band when she was just 13. She was thrust into the limelight in 2001 when she won a national songwriting competition run by an influential national alternative radio network while still in high school. Instead of capitalizing on the moment, she chose to backpack around Europe before returning home and releasing an eponymous EP that topped the indie charts in late 2003. Airplay on influential Los Angeles tastemaker station KCRW led to a Stateside deal with Warner Bros Records. The following year, she released the Scar EP in Australia, which entered the country’s charts at Number One, followed by the best-selling The Sound of White, which was released internationally later that year. Higgins made repeated trips to the US and UK, opening for the likes of Ray Lamontagne, The Finn Brothers, and Howie Day. By the end of 2005, she had racked up more than 200 gigs culminating in a memorable series of huge outdoor concerts around Australia.
Fortunately Higgins likes to write songs while she's on the road, so while touring behind The Sound Of White, she penned many of the tunes that would comprise On A Clear Night, and gradually honed them through live performances. The pissed-off "Peachy" was among the first to work its way into Higgins’ set. The equally energetic (and only slightly less feisty) "100 Round The Bends" also became a fan favorite through repeated live airings.
"Unlike nearly all the songs on the first album, both of those songs were written on guitar, which is the only instrument I've got with me in the hotel room or on the bus,” Higgins says. “So the songs I write that way tend to be a bit more 'up' while playing the piano usually inspires slow songs. Maybe that's why there's a bit more energy on this album compared to the last one — I didn't spend as much time sitting around at home playing the piano." The new disc still features some beautiful keyboard-driven ballads, such as "Sugarcane" and "Where I Stood," but this time they're evenly balanced by the more uptempo tracks.
Recording for On A Clear Night commenced at Mitchell Froom's home studio in Los Angeles in early September 2006. Over the next three months, tracking proceeded with a stellar lineup of L.A, musicians including in-demand studio drummer Matt Chamberlain (Tori Amos, Fiona Apple) and former touring compadre Neil Finn, who was roped in to provide some extra guitars on "Peachy" and backing vocals on the rustic "Going North.”
The album’s first single and opening track, "Where I Stood," showcases both the tasteful restraint and the lyrical maturity that are the album's trademarks. The beautiful ballad has sold over 100,000 tracks on iTunes over recent months due largely by the song being featured prominently on hit U.S TV shows Grey’s Anatomy, Smallville, One Tree Hill, Brothers & Sisters, Lipstick Jungle and The Hills. Missy’s also performed the song live on major TV shows such as “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”.
The sass and swagger of Higgins’ personal favorite track — "The Wrong Girl" — is clearly the work of a more self-confident songwriter. Missy credits her producer with helping her realize her ambitions for these pivotal songs.
"Working with Mitchell was such an empowering experience,” she says. “He's made so many great singer/songwriter-style records, and is full of all these brilliant ideas, but he never tried to impose anything on me. He just let me take my time and we let the songs unfold the way they wanted to. The result, I think, is a record with a real depth to it.”
"Steer" is, in many ways, the album's statement of intent. An infectious and uplifting piece about seizing control of your life, it sums up the disc’s outlook. A line from its chorus led to the title of On A Clear Night. "It was inspired by a realization I had one night on the beach, looking up at this amazingly clear sky above me,” Higgins recalls. “It dawned on me how small we are, how short life is, and how ridiculous it therefore is to spend any of it feeling unfulfilled. I felt so liberated to have finally figured that out, and the song 'Steer' just kind of fell out of that moment."
This sense that 'anything's possible' isn't confined to the lyrics; it also extends to the musical departures on the album. "Going North" has a surprisingly country twang to it, "Warm Whispers" employs some unusual structures and atmospheric loops, there's an acoustic string band treatment of "Angela", and the haunting "Secret" is written around just three notes played on one string of the guitar. They're the kind of subtle and surprising twists that sustain listener interest over the course of the album.
"I wanted this album to seem really simple when you first listen to it but then the more you play it, the more you discover,” Higgins says. “There are lots of little instrumental textures and things that you only notice after a few spins so hopefully people will feel like it's one of those albums that's worth playing a few times."
“Missy Higgins has that radiance performers exude just as their stars begin to ascend.”
- LA Times.
www.missyhiggins.com
www.myspace.com/missyhiggins
Visit www.missyhiggins.com/store for exclusive, official Missy Higgins merch.
