After a five-year hiatus, our favorite Aussie singer-songwriter, Missy Higgins, is back in the game. The Ol Razzle Dazzle, Missy’s latest work, is an upbeat and catchy 12-song album filled with a fresh new energy that everyone can appreciate. When asked about the current tour with Gotye, Higgins said it provided a great opportunity to get her music out to new audiences and shared a little about her opportunity to sing Kimbra’s part in the hit song “Somebody That I Used To Know,” revealing she was afraid of getting booed off. But how could anyone boo that voice off a stage?
Recently she’s been busy both on tour with Gotye as well as a separate tour with Katie Herzig and Butterfly Boucher, the latter of whom co-produced and co-wrote a few songs on Razzle Dazzle. The album, however, almost did not come out.
After Missy’s previous album On A Clear Night, the singer decided to step away from music for a little while. After touring the album for over two years, she felt she had nothing left to give creatively. The juices weren’t flowing and Higgins was afraid if she did something right away it would have been uninspired, and nothing seemed worse than producing seemingly meaningless and unconnected work. She yearned to once again get lost in music, opting out of listening to anything that contained vocals in order to reduce her anxiety and calm her thoughts, explaining how she wanted to listen to things “far away from her own genre.”
It took some time, but after attending university back in Australia, a visit to India, and some apartment sitting in Brooklyn, Higgins ended up falling back in love with music. This rekindled affair provided a new exciting and liberated feeling. It’s fair to say she made the right move by walking away, only in the sense that she came back with full force, feeling energized and inspired, making this album the most dynamic and exciting one yet.
Just like how her creative break made a positive impact on her career, Higgins shared a little about the importance of individuals being open about their sexuality. “The more people in the public eye that are open about it, the better,” she told GO. “It’s been very rewarding to have such a positive impact on those struggling with being comfortable about their sexuality. People have come up to me and thanked me for being open in my own life.”
Higgins said she would love to try something different in the future, revealing aspirations about writing a musical, as well as future albums. No pressure Missy, we are ready when you are!
Missy Higgins and Butterfly Boucher perform tonight, Sept 28, at the Bell House, 149 7th Street, Brooklyn. Doors open at 8pm, show starts at 9pm. Tickets are $20. For more info, visit missyhiggins.com.
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