Album Review: Missy Higgins - Solastalgia

Although there's quite a bit of thematic doom and gloom on this record, expect plenty of highs, too.

A departure into the electro fringe, this is Missy Higgins as far away from organic/acoustic pop as she has ever ventured, and it's well worth the journey. Working back from the end and the fully wobby synth and vox treatment of The Old Star is just great fun, albeit a little apocalyptic (as you do). However for the rest Higgins' clear tone is mostly maintained - with straight forward sweet songs like Futon Couch and Don't Look Down - as well as Eurythmics-esque explorations in Hallucinate and Yesterday Must Die. There's an interesting crossover with opener Starting Again (dedicated to Higgins' young son), while Cemetery jumps straight in and onto the dancefloor - lots of fun and very singable.

A bold standout is 49 Candles, a protest/lament about the Orlando hate shootings in 2016 where 49 young people were gunned down in an attack on the LGBTQIA+ community. As she sings, "All our voices, where do they go?" backed by well-placed rolling (military, even) drums, the message hits. Mournful and a little lost, there's a definitive and rightful anger underpinning here too.

A sonically different, thematically diverse album.