Can’t wait to get back out to South Australia on January 21 for @Sounds By The River, which is taking place the bank of the beautiful Murray River, in Mannum.
I’m wrapped to be playing this one alongside my good friends Paul Kelly, Bernard Fanning, Mark Seymour, Via & Linda, Ian Moss & Troy Cassar-Daley.❤️
Tickets on sale Thursday @ 9am (local time) 👉 bit.ly/3QgKD3L
See you all there! ⚡️🌈
LISTEN TO NEW SINGLE “I TAKE IT BACK” HERE
MISSY TO FEATURE IN ABC’S 90TH BIRTHDAY TELECAST THIS THURSDAY
Missy Higgins will feature in the ABC’s 90th Birthday Telecast this Thursday evening at 8pm with a special performance from the breathtaking Rungutjirpa (Simpson’s Gap). Her appearance alongside an Australian Arts and Culture ‘who’s who’, extends a long association with the national public broadcaster, stretching back to winning Triple J Unearthed 20 years ago while she was still at high school.
More recently Missy composed and sang for both series of the ABC’s award winning political drama, “Total Control”. The program has attracted worldwide acclaim with The Wall Street Journal applauding “…its biting vision of the prevailing codes, and what passes for right and wrong in political society.” Stuff NZ said: “Total Control offers a scathing examination of Australian politics [and] a clarion call for social justice” and said the music was “a magnificent showcase for the songwriting and singing skills of Missy Higgins”.
This week Missy will release the final track from that celebrated collaboration – a song of empowerment called “I Take It Back” drawn from her “Total Control” mini-album. That ARIA Top 3 hit was inspired by musical fragments Missy initially pieced together to fit certain scenes in the TV show. What started as brief instrumentals gradually grew lyrics and some expanded into full songs across 2020 and 2021 as the show’s themes reverberated publicly in the Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins cases. Missy’s unusually deep association with the show included her fierce lead single “Edge Of Something” which featured as the main promo for Season Two and was premiered live as part of the ABC’s 2022 New Year’s Eve telecast from the Sydney Opera House.
“This song is about reclaiming your story, identity and power as a woman. It draws on the history of women being forced into a cultural narrative that diminishes their power. It creates space for all that fury, resentment and uncomfortable emotion to finally rise to the surface. But it’s also a celebration of everything we have inside us and everything we can achieve once we’ve harnessed this power.” Says Missy of the track.
“This song is about reclaiming your story, identity and power as a woman. It draws on the history of women being forced into a cultural narrative that diminishes their power. It creates space for all that fury, resentment and uncomfortable emotion to finally rise to the surface. But it’s also a celebration of everything we have inside us and everything we can achieve once we’ve harnessed this power” – Missy Higgins
CLICK HERE FOR ALL MISSY HIGGINS TOUR DATES
Missy Higgins today releases her new mini-album “Total Control” – listen here.
The songs from this new mini-album pick up themes of exploitation and female empowerment that run through “Total Control” and which also dominated real world headlines last year as a string of abuse allegations emerging from Parliament House.
Appearing on the TV show “Q&A” late last year, Missy noted that the strong calls for change by leading voices like Brittany Higgins and Australian Of The Year Grace Tame had been a further inspiration for new songs like “Watch Out” and “I Take It Back”.
The latest single to be lifted from “Total Control” is “The Collector” which is described as Missy as “a raw rollicking, stomping sing-along with unashamed venom. It’s the Kill-Bill-esque revenge fantasy of a woman who NEVER forgets”
The “Total Control” mini-album was inspired initially by musical fragments Missy pieced together to fit certain scenes in the ABC’s Total Control soundtrack. What started as brief instrumentals gradually grew lyrics and some expanded into full songs across 2020 and 2021. Missy’s unusually deep association with the show included lead single “Edge Of Something” which featured as the main promo for Season Two.
The program has attracted worldwide acclaim with The Wall Street Journal applauding “…its biting vision of the prevailing codes, and what passes for right and wrong in political society.” Stuff NZ said: “Total Control offers a scathing examination of Australian politics [and] a clarion call for social justice” and said the music was “a magnificent showcase for the songwriting and singing skills of Missy Higgins”.
Over coming months Missy Higgins will headline two separate touring festivals at once – the beachy “Summersalt” and a new all female event called “Wildflower”. The beloved singer/songwriter will also play gigs in cities from Darwin to Torquay, from Birdsville to Broken Hill.
Aptly enough Missy ushered in 2022 with a pre-fireworks performance of the title track on ABCTV’s New Year’s Eve extravaganza – literally starting this busy year with a bang.
“Like lots of people I guess I’m trying to make up for lost time”, Missy explains. “The last two years made me realise how much I missed playing music for people so I want to get out there and do it while we all can. I’m not taking anything for granted anymore.”
CLICK HERE FOR ALL MISSY HIGGINS TOUR DATES
LISTEN TO LEAD SINGLE, MISSY’S COVER OF THE MOTELS’ ‘TOTAL CONTROL’ HERE
Missy Higgins today announces the release of her new mini-album “Total Control”set for release on Friday March 4 and available to pre-order now.
The songs from this new mini-album pick up themes of exploitation and female empowerment that run through “Total Control” and which also dominated real world headlines last year as a string of abuse allegations emerging from Parliament House.
Appearing on the TV show “Q&A” late last year, Missy noted that the strong calls for change by leading voices like Brittany Higgins and Australian Of The Year Grace Tame had been a further inspiration for new songs like “Watch Out” and “I Take It Back”.
The mini-album’s title track – a cover of the Motels’ 1980’s classic – takes on a whole new meaning in light of this backdrop and is sure to be a live highlight of Missy’s forthcoming shows.
LISTEN TO ‘TOTAL CONTROL’ HERE
The “Total Control” mini-album was inspired initially by musical fragments Missy pieced together to fit certain scenes in the ABC’s Total Control soundtrack. What started as brief instrumentals gradually grew lyrics and some expanded into full songs across 2020 and 2021. Missy’s unusually deep association with the show included lead single “Edge Of Something” which featured as the main promo for Season Two.
The program has attracted worldwide acclaim with The Wall Street Journal applauding “…its biting vision of the prevailing codes, and what passes for right and wrong in political society.” Stuff NZ said: “Total Control offers a scathing examination of Australian politics [and] a clarion call for social justice” and said the music was “a magnificent showcase for the songwriting and singing skills of Missy Higgins”.
Over coming months Missy Higgins will headline two separate touring festivals at once – the beachy “Summersalt” and a new all female event called “Wildflower”. The beloved singer/songwriter will also play gigs in cities from Darwin to Torquay, from Birdsville to Broken Hill.
Aptly enough Missy ushered in 2022 with a pre-fireworks performance of the title track on ABCTV’s New Year’s Eve extravaganza – literally starting this busy year with a bang.
“Like lots of people I guess I’m trying to make up for lost time”, Missy explains. “The last two years made me realise how much I missed playing music for people so I want to get out there and do it while we all can. I’m not taking anything for granted anymore.”
Hey Everyone
Well, yet again, god it’ll be good to get this year behind us, huh. I hope you can all find some joy and connection with each other finally over this holiday season. It’s so hard to know what we can look forward to at the moment and what the future holds, but I have a feeling we can safely say that things ain’t going back to what they were. These shows next year will be our chance to dance, sing and shake off the shit show that has been the last two years! To quote myself, the Machine has Started up again, and it ain’t stopping till us ladies sing, and not even then damnit. I’m so bloody excited to get out there and play for you all. I’ve missed it terribly. There’ll be plenty of new songs being played, like my latest single Edge Of Something, as well as of course the good ol’ hits from days of yore.
Below are the show dates (so far) booked for next year, hopefully there is one near you (unless you live in Timbuktu) and I will see you there!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays all you lovely people. And on the theme of being festive, my good friend Ben Abraham and I have recorded a little ditty to soundtrack your bon-bon popping and pudding scoffing. If you’d like to check it out here’s the link: https://benabraham.lnk.to/HYAMLC
Sending love and can’t wait to see your faces next year.
Missy
xx
Sun Dec 19 Sandstone Point Hotel, Sandstone Point QLD (with Paul Kelly)
Sat Jan 29 Lighthouse Festival, Norah Head NSW
Sat Feb 5 SummerSalt Festival, Royal Botanic Gardens, Hobart TAS
Sun Feb 6 SummerSalt Festival, Royal Botanic Gardens, Hobart TAS – SOLD OUT
Sat Feb 12 By The C, Torquay Common, Torquay VIC (with Icehouse) – SOLD OUT
Sun Feb 13 Stomping Of The Grapes, Gerringong NSW
Sat Feb 19 SummerSalt Festival, Coffs Harbour NSW
Sun Feb 20 SummerSalt Festival, Queen Elizabeth Park, Coolangatta QLD
Sat Feb 26 SummerSalt Festival, Stage 88, Canberra ACT
Sun Feb 27 SummerSalt Festival, North Gardens, Ballarat VIC – SOLD OUT
Sat Mar 5 Castelli Estate, Denmark WA
Sun Mar 6 SummerSalt Festival, The Esplanade, Fremantle WA
Sat Mar 12 Wildflower Festival, Rochford Wines, Yarra Valley VIC
Sun Mar 13 SummerSalt Festival, Don Lucas Reserve, Cronulla NSW
Sat Mar 19 Wildflower Festival, Riverstage, Brisbane QLD
Sun Mar 20 By The C, Keirle Park, Manly (with Icehouse) NSW
Mon Mar 21 Great Southern Nights, Anita’s Theatre, Thirroul NSW
Sat Mar 26 SummerSalt Festival, Mildura VIC
Sun Mar 27 SummerSalt Festival, M.O Moran Reserve, St Kilda VIC
Sat Apr 2 Wildflower Festival, Roche Estate, Hunter Valley NSW
Sat Apr 16 Bluesfest, Byron Bay NSW
Sat May 7 Munro Martin Parklands, Cairns QLD
Sat May 28 Darwin Amphitheatre, Darwin NT (with Icehouse)
July 5-7 Big Red Bash, Birdsville QLD
Aug 18 -20 Mundi Mundi Bash, Broken Hill NSW
Sat Oct 29 Wildflower Festival, Craigmoor Winery, Mudgee NSW
This was such a wild experience. Not only to play live music for the first time in ages, but to do it in such a magical zen kind of a place: The Peninsula Hot Springs. In one of the songs I’m literally performing on top of a hot springs bath with my feet in the 45 degree water (!!), while watching the sun going down and a 360 degree view over the velvety rolling hills. It was other-worldly. @thesoundau just make the coolest live music videos, I love this show so much. Tune in this Sunday to see my performance and heaps of other great artists perform in crazy beautiful places.
The video to ‘Edge Of Something’ is here! Live footage of me singing this song (at home in my study because, well where else would I possibly be right now?!) woven through footage from Season 2 of Total Control by the genius ABC editor Hilary Campilan, makes for such a powerful video for this song.
Writing for Deborah Mailman, Rachel Griffiths (and many more amazing women in the show) and the fierce and complex characters they all portray was truly a bloody joy. Watching their faces on the screen in front of me every day on repeat as I was writing felt incredibly relevant. Like I was watching unfold all the impossible predicaments that women – especially women of colour – are forced into these days if they manage to claw their way into the arena. These women were choosing to keep fighting despite knowing full well that the world wasn’t set up for them yet. Elbowing their way to the front, bruised and broken but grabbing the microphone anyway. Truly an inspiration.
I’m so proud of this song and this project. And seeing as though album sleeve credits seem to be a thing of the past… I’d like to give some big shout outs to: Total Control’s producer Darren Dale at Blackfella Films, the amazing music production duo @sonarmusicofficial whom I wrote the short version of this song with for Season 1. This full expanded version featured in Season 2 features Leigh Fisher on drums, Cameron Deyell on guitar and Brendon Love on bass (who also co-produced the track, and he and I are currently making more songs together so stay tuned there!). Engineered and mixed by the magician Nao Anzai at Rolling Stock studios Collingwood.
Missy x
After enduring Melbourne’s lengthy lockdowns Missy Higgins is about to start making up for lost time. She’s dropping new music tied to the acclaimed TV series “Total Control”, she’s guesting on a hip hop track by Birdz, and she’s announcing lots of summer shows including headlining the beach concert series “SummerSalt” and the new all-female festival, “Wildflower”.
“It’s been lovely to get so much ‘quality time’ with my young family over the last 18 months”, Missy explains, “but if I’ve learned anything it’s that making music keeps me sane!”
The first fresh challenge the beloved singer/songwriter set herself involved ABCTV’s triple AACTA Award winning drama “Total Control”. Several of her hits were featured in 2019’s first season plus she added vocals and lyrics to some short instrumental pieces in several episodes. During lockdowns this provided a fresh writing challenge as she sought to expand some of those short TV fragments into complete songs.
Her new single “Edge Of Something” – released today – is one of several works born out of this process. Originally an 80 second piece for the TV show it’s now been reimagined as a full song and recorded from scratch with co-producer Brendon Love (from the Teskey Brothers). To bring things full circle this new version is currently being featured in an eye catching promo for Season 2 of “Total Control” and will also make a memorable appearance in one of the new episodes.
WATCH ‘TOTAL CONTROL’ – SEASON 2 OFFICIAL TRAILER FEATURING
“EDGE OF SOMETHING”
“I’m really proud to have my music featured in this particular show”, Missy explains. “It’s a compelling drama about the challenges women face in public life so I think it’s ‘must see TV’ after all the revelations coming out of Canberra this year.”
In addition to “Edge Of Something”, Missy will soon be releasing some other new songs from the show including “Watch Out” which she teased during a recent performance on ABC’s “The Set”. The episode also featured a collaboration with Butchulla rapper, Birdz, who was a fellow guest and that association gave rise to Missy’s featured appearance on his new single “Legacy 2” which is out now.
With the release of all this new music, Missy is also planning a return to concert stages around the country. First out of the gate were announcements last week regarding her headlining some big “SummerSalt” gigs in beaches and parks across the country. More of those Covid-safe events are expected to be announced over the coming weeks.
Last week it was also announced that Missy will headline “Wildflower” a brand new all-female festival which features Kate Miller-Heidke, Kasey Chambers, Sarah Blasko, Deborah Conway, Vicki Thorn (The Waifs) & Alice Skye.
“I’m beyond thrilled to be a part of Wildflower. All the women involved are total inspirations and some were actually really big influences on me in the early days of my career,” There’s something about being on the road with so many powerful creative women, it’s so rare it kind of creates magic when it happens. I was involved in the second round of Lilith Fair in America about ten years ago and it goes down as one of the best experiences I’ve ever had, I made lifelong friends out of it. I have no doubt this will be the same, but this time showcasing to the country the huge amount of Aussie talent we have here. It’s an incredible way to get back in to playing live music again, holy moly I’ve missed it.”
As Missy sings in her new single, “I’m on the edge of something … possibly beautiful”.
MISSY HIGGINS – EDGE OF SOMETHING – OUT TODAY – LISTEN HERE
CLICK HERE FOR ALL MISSY HIGGINS TOUR DATES
Firstly, I’m beyond thrilled to announce that I’ll be involved in Wildflower Festival, touring early next year. Its an all-female line-up and all the women involved are total inspirations, some of which were actually really big influences on me in the early days of my career. There’s something about being on the road with so many powerful creative women, it’s so rare it kind of creates magic when it happens. I was involved in the second round of Lilith Fair in America about ten years ago and it goes down as one of the best experiences I ever had, I made lifelong friends out of it. I have no doubt this will be the same but this time showcasing to the country the huge amount of Aussie talent we have here. An incredible way to get back in to playing live music again, holy moly I’ve missed it.
Secondly… A NEW SONG! It’s called Edge Of Something. I’m very very proud of this song, the theme of which actually is incredibly apt when announcing alongside an all-female tour. It’s a Woman-power song, with BITE. I’ll tell you more about it later but for now I’ll tell you it’s out next Friday October 15.
Can’t wait for you to hear it and can’t wait to see you at a show 🙂
Missy x
Sign up for pre-sale tickets: www.wildflowerfestivalaustralia.com.au
Excited to announce that I’ll be playing at Bluesfest 2022 on Saturday 16th April (Easter Weekend) alongside a huge list of incredible Aussie artists.
I’m on Anh’s Brush With Fame! This Tuesday 1st June on @ABCTV.
I’m on Anh’s Brush With Fame! 🎨 This Tuesday 1st June on @ABCTV. #anhsbrushwithfame pic.twitter.com/5gOFuNdfLq
— Missy Higgins (@missyhiggins) May 27, 2021
New show for Sydney! 
Tickets on sale Wed 19 May 12:00pm (local time). More info: https://winterinthedomain.com.au
Missy xx
