A safe life at the piano confessional seemed assured when Missy Higgins emerged from Melbourne with a raw and tender debut, The Sound of White, in 2005. Her plangent, precocious tone struck a big chord, grand-slamming the ARIAs as Scar won APRA's Song of the Year and the album sold platinum nine times. The No. 1 follow-up, On a Clear Night, found her mostly on guitar and under the wing of Crowded House producer Mitchell Froom, before a five-year hiatus challenged conventional pop progress. From 2012 to '14, the playful advance of The Ol' Razzle Dazzle and her tome of essays and classic Aussie covers, Oz, confirmed a mature artist of diverse and intriguing ambitions.