Missy Higgins’ The Second Act: The Rebirth of an Australian Singer Songwriter

In Australian indie folk / singer songwriter circles, Missy Higgins is royalty. She burst onto the scene as a teenager with raw coming of age tracks with little more than a piano and powerful vocals. She followed this up with the indie pop juggernaut The Sound of White in 2004. Her career went up and down after that with some hit tracks, the pandemic, becoming a mother and some guest tracks with Paul Kelly. Twenty years on she is back to basics with her latest release, The Second Act. In a lot of ways, this record, and the title track, are back to the stripped back sound we fell in love with on her debut EP, but with a fresh confidence and power after years of making music and living life.

Musically, Higgins is back to her main backing instruments being acoustic guitar and the piano. There is a Patty Griffin quality to this track where the sparse instrumentation leaves room for her powerful vocal. Having said that, the song builds over time to include banjo, light snare, bass and some backing vocals. Even though these added notes do not stay too long, they give the track some needed depth and warmth. The title track is solid musically, but the real star of this track is Higgins’ uncompromising vocal.

Higgins has always been a talented songwriter who can express universal themes of love, loss and humanity in a way that is both uniquely personal, yet, universal. Her tracks have a personal vulnerability that draws you in and you find yourself relating to the track in a meaningful way. On the one hand you feel like she is singing from her heart, but you also feel like she is singing about you. It is an experience that is hard to explain, but I find myself connecting to her tracks in a powerful way. The Second Act is no different. Higgins sings about emerging from personal tragedy and loss to once again embrace life and start her “second act.” It took some time to heal from her wounds, but she is back, dusted herself off and go again. Even though this is a song about personal pain, it is really about resilience and inner strength.

Who among us hasn’t had a tough turn…or two…and found themselves at a crossroads. You could either relent or pick yourself up and power on into your second act…or 12th act if you are like me and have fallen over a lot… That is what is so relatable about this track. For Higgins, and us, the pain and loss is not what harms or defines us, but something that makes us stronger and drives us to embark on a second act. I adore this song and Higgins shows us that after 20 years she is a singer/songwriter at the top of her game.

Listen to The Second Act