The Sound of White

Background and recording

In 2001, while still at high school, Higgins wrote the song "All for Believing" as part of a music assignment. The song won Unearthed, a competition for unsigned artists run by radio station Triple J and was added to their playlist. She was offered recording contracts by Sony and Eleven. She signed with Eleven before setting off in 2002 on a backpacking trip to Europe. She planned to write music during her trip but, leaving her guitar on a train in Spain, only completed one song. While holidaying, "All for Believing" was picked up by Los Angeles (LA) radio station KCRW and at the end of her trip, she flew to LA to sign an international recording contract with Warner Bros.

In 2003, Higgins spent several months touring as a support act for other artists, and writing music for her debut album. She wrote most of the songs alone, and most of them on the piano. She collaborated with Better Than Ezra musician Kevin Griffin on two songs; "Scar" and "Don't Ever". "Ten Days", inspired by Higgins' break-up with her boyfriend before she travelled to Europe, was co-written with Jay Clifford from Jump, Little Children. "The River" was co-written with Clif Magness.

In November, Higgins released a self-titled extended play (EP) which contained four songs including "All for Believing" and "Greed for Your Love", the song she had written in Europe. In 2004 she travelled to the US to work with British musician and record producer John Porter and engineer and mixer Jay Newland. Porter assembled a group of session musicians for the album, including drummer Michael Barker, bassist John Patitucci and cellist Martin Tillman.

Release

Higgins released her first single from the album, "Scar" on 2 August 2004; it entered the ARIA Singles Chart at No. 1. The Sound of White was released in Australia on 6 September. It entered the ARIA Albums Chart at No. 1 and stayed in the top 50 for 85 weeks. It was certified nine times platinum by ARIA. It entered the New Zealand album chart at No. 40, peaked at No. 19 and remained on the chart for 11 weeks. Three more singles were released from the album. "Ten Days" was released 15 November, entering at No. 14, later rising to No. 12. "The Special Two" was released as an EP on 4 April 2005. It entered the ARIA Singles Chart at No. 2 and stayed on the chart for 19 weeks. "The Sound of White" was released 15 August. It entered the chart at No. 22 and left it after five weeks. The album was released in the United Kingdom on 6 June and the US on 7 June on Reprise (a label owned by Warner Bros.)

Higgins promoted the album in Australia in October 2004 with her first national tour as a headline act.

The album was released in the USA on 7 June 2005.

Critical

In his 2009 book Playlisted: Everything You Need to Know About Australian Music Right Now, Craig Mathieson said that The Sound of White was lyrically "descriptively giving, often heartbroken and occasionally delusional".

The album received mixed reviews from American music critics. Christian Hoard and Jonathan Ringen of Rolling Stone were unimpressed by the album. Although they praised the production, they called it "utterly conventional" and said that Higgins was "too bland" to succeed in the US. Allmusic's Jonathan Widran was more impressed, also praising the album's production as well as more lightly produced tracks "Don't Ever", "Night Minds" and "The Sound of White". He said "there's no doubt she'll be the one up-and-coming singers want to compare themselves to". Writing for Entertainment Weekly, Holly George-Warren said that the album was "reminiscent of early Suzanne Vega and Sarah McLachlan" and that it sounded "just right". Billboard gave the album a positive review, praising Higgins' use of different genres and noting her "refreshing Melbourne accent" and concluding that it was "tailor-made for lazy summer days".

Awards

Higgins received six ARIA Awards for The Sound of White. In 2004, at the 18th Annual ARIA Music Awards, Higgins was nominated for 'Single of the Year', 'Best Female Artist', 'Breakthrough Artist — Single' and 'Best Pop Release', all for "Scar". She won the award for 'Best Pop Release'. Squareyed Films received a nomination for 'Best Video' for "Scar". The following year, at the 19th Annual ARIA Music Awards, Higgins received five more awards; 'Best Female Artist' (for "Scar"), 'Breakthrough Artist — Album', 'Highest Selling Album', 'Best Pop Release' (for "The Sound of White") and 'Album of the Year'. She was also nominated for 'Single of the Year' and 'Highest Selling Single', both for "The Special Two". Cathie Glassby received a nomination for 'Best Cover Art' for The Sound of White.

In 2005 at the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) Awards, which recognise song writing, sales and airplay performance, Higgins was nominated for two awards; 'Song of the Year' (for "Scar" and "Ten Days") and 'Breakthrough Award' (for an emerging songwriter). She won the 'Song of the Year' award (with "Scar"'s co-writer Kevin Griffin) and the 'Breakthrough Award'. Aged 21 at the time, she was the youngest recipient of the 'Song of the Year' APRA award to date.

In October 2010, The Sound of White was listed in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums.

Track listing

The album was slightly varied for its international release, replacing the track "Casualty" with "Unbroken" and including the song "They Weren't There" as a secret track and a remixed version of "Scar", known as the Jay Newland Mix.

Australian release

All tracks written by Missy Higgins, except where noted.

1. "All for Believing" – 3:27
2. "Don't Ever" (Missy Higgins, Kevin Griffin) – 2:52
3. "Scar" (Higgins, Griffin) – 3:36
4. "Ten Days" (Higgins, James Major Clifford) – 3:45
5. "Nightminds" – 3:19
6. "Casualty" (Higgins, Griffin) – 4:14
7. "Any Day Now" – 3:51
8. "Katie" – 3:35
9. "The River" (Higgins, Clif Magness) – 4:28
10. "The Special Two" – 4:27
11. "This Is How It Goes" – 3:32
12. "The Sound of White" – 4:49
13. "They Weren't There" – 4:07

International release

1. "All for Believing" – 3:27
2. "Ten Days" – 3:45
3. "Scar" (Jay Newland Mix) – 3:32
4. "Don't Ever" – 2:52
5. "Nightminds" – 3:13
6. "Unbroken" (Higgins, Griffin) – 3:41
7. "Any Day Now" – 3:51
8. "Katie" – 3:35
9. "The River" – 4:23
10. "The Special Two" – 4:27
11. "This Is How It Goes" – 3:28
12. "The Sound of White" – 9:06 (includes time for following track)
13. "They Weren't There" (hidden track)

Singles

"—" denotes releases that did not chart.