Missy Higgins Talks America, ‘The Second Act’ and the Healing Powers of Music

Missy Higgins left no stone unturned in the creation of The Second Act, the Australian singer and songwriter’s sixth studio album.

Released 20 years after her breakthrough debut The Sound of White, The Second Act (via Eleven/EMI) finds Higgins in an altogether different, and vulnerable, stage of life.

Higgins explored the pain of a breakup, and channeled it into the album which, she explains, was recorded in a back room at her house.

“The songs came out in desperation. Really, desperation to figure out the way forward,” she says during a Zoom call from outside of her home. “And because songs have always been that for me, they’ve always been very, very cathartic and therapeutic, they’ve always been a way for me to figure out stuff.”
Australian audiences have connected with the album, too. The Second Act opened at No. 1 on the ARIA Chart on Friday, Sept. 13, for her fourth leader.

“There aren’t that many albums written from the perspective of parents, particularly single parents,” she explains. The Second Act does, and it captures “the kind of grief that comes with that, and the sense of responsibility and guilt.”

Higgins has had her hands full this year, not just with parenting duties and her new LP. The Melbourne artist has toured through the year, supporting the 20th anniversary of The Sound of White. When her 40 dates sold out in minutes, Frontier Touring added an “encore” run in the lead-up to Christmas. For Higgins, Christmas will come early. On Nov. 20, she’ll be elevated into the ARIA Hall of Fame, during a segment of the ARIA Awards in Sydney.

Higgins’ career got off to the brightest of starts with The Sound Of White, which dominated the ARIA Chart for seven non-consecutive cycles and collected a bunch of ARIAs.

Her sophomore set On A Clear Night (from 2007) and third collection The Ol’ Razzle Dazzle (2012) also led the chart, while Oz (2014), Solastalgia (2018) and Total Control (2022) all cracked the top 3.

The United States called, and Higgins lived for a time in Nashville, New York and Los Angeles. She even counts best-selling author Harlan Coben among her fans and supporters (the pair made several in-store appearances together in 2009).

Another U.S. tour may have to wait. “I wanted to go to America this year but it’s too hard with the kids. I don’t really want to just leave them for two weeks. I’d have to take a nanny, or there’d be late nights. It’s just too difficult. I think I’m just going to have to wait until they’re a little bit older. And make it a big thing.”

Good things, it is often said, come to those who wait. Until then, fans can live with a record that is as raw and human as any released this year. “With every album, it’s a snapshot of my life. The Sound of White was a snapshot of my, my teenage angsty years and this is a new chapter, this transition into the second act. I’m glad I have it.”

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