By snoadmin
Australian beauty and songstress Missy Higgins hits the right note with her sophomore album “On a Clear Night,” which made its North American debut in late February. Higgins’ smooth, distinctive voice exudes a melodic sound throughout the album, and offers a taste of piano rock and strong guitars.
The 11-track CD is written completely by Higgins, giving “On a Clear Night” a more personalized, in-depth feel. The opening track, “Where I stood,” is an intense but clear look into a heartbreaking separation from a lover. Her deeply projected voice allows the song to reach into your chest and pull at your heart.
The best part about Higgins’ music is its ability to convince listeners of the emotions she goes through when singing her songs. It makes you want to hit repeat and relive each song over and over. Her fourth song on the album, “Sugarcane,” is a great example of Higgins’ complex and beautifully lyrical songs. It speaks about an innocent, young girl who is abused and abandoned in the world and wishes to have a wall to hide behind. As she grows up, she finally receives the wall in the form of a two-way mirror. The girl can’t see the horrors of the world and it allows her to stop them from coming to her. These lyrics also allow for many translations that give the song more diversity and meaning.
Compared to her previous album, “The Sound of White,” which was mostly piano-driven, Higgins’ songs on “On a Clear Night” drip with beautiful guitar riffs that add to the acoustic and folk feeling of her music, like in the songs “Steer” and “Peachy.”
The opening track of “Where I Stood” is the highlight of the album. Its simplicity and emotion bleeds with a luring and enchanting melody that can send shivers down the spine. I found myself wanting to listen to this song over and over in order to relive the sheer beauty of it. Her voice contains a deep Australian rasp that allows her to stand out as a talented female vocalist.
I first discovered Higgins about a year ago when I heard her big hit “Scar” through MySpace. I was surprised I hadn’t heard of the Aussie beauty before, because her music had such a great appeal. It was inspiring, fresh and catchy.
Higgins’ music is definitely for someone looking for something relaxing. Unlike many artists, her songs offer variety. She features fun, upbeat songs that are balanced between those heart-wrenching love songs, which are known to be gender- ambiguous, allowing all people to relate to her lyrics.
“On a Clear Night” is a work of music magic that needs to be discovered. We can thank Australia, for Higgins is a truly raw talent.
