Missy Higgins - The Scar EP
Eleven - 2004
Missy Higgins was the winner of the JJJ (Australian radio station) Unearthed competition a few years back. Instead of releasing an album straight away, and riding on initial success and reaction from the competition, Missy settled with smaller label Eleven, who allowed her to travel around Europe for a year. She came back and released her first EP, "The Missy Higgins EP" in 2003. She then recorded a few more songs, toured with John Butler Trio, and released "The Scar EP". Her debut album "The Sound of White" is due out September 6.
Missy plays both acoustic guitar and piano very well, and writes beautiful melodic tunes. Comparisons with Tori Amos have been drawn, but I don't necessarily agree. At all.
Track by Track Review:
1. Scar
A surprisingly upbeat song. If you hadn't heard Missy before, her voice comes in distinct as anything. This song is evenly piano/guitar based, and even features a brass section. She sings in an Australian accent, and her voice is beautiful, even in this pure track. This is the single, and scored the EP a number 1 spot on the Australian charts. 4.5/5
2. Casualty
My favourite song on this EP. It is beautiful. This song starts off with some delayed bass, and then some spooky brass comes in. The verses are rather stripped, and the lyrics are spiteful. The chorus is uplifting and upbeat, with some nify piano playing. 5/5
3. Dancing Dirt Into the Snow
Starts with piano, and a little burst of vocal harmony. It is a sort of epic sounding verse, with the piano and soft cello. The chorus this time is just delicately beautiful, and is very very good. "You're dancing dirt into the snow while others look at you on show, and watch you bleed." Her lyrics here are amazing as usual, and her writing style is very distinct. 5/5
4. The Cactus That Found the Beat
A freaking cool song. She wrote this song for a high school talent show, and lost. :rolleyes: . This song is funky, and has a very cool audience participation part, where it breaks into clicking, or clapping when she plays it live. It is one of the best live experiences I've had, and it gives me chills whenever I listen to it. To everyone else though, it may not be up to the rest of the EP. 4/5
Missy Higgins is my favourite Australian artist, and is a very distint young lady. Her voice is great, and original, and her writing style is very folky. She writes beautiful music.
4.5/5
Everyone check her out. :cool:
