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The word Solastalgia describes a form of psychic or existential distress caused by environmental change, such as climate change, coined by philosopher Glenn Albrecht in 2003.

“Yeah it’s a bit of an unusual name isn’t it”, laughs Missy, “but, then again, it’s an unusual album.”

Clearly Missy has absorbed some fresh influences since her last collection of original songs, The Ol’ Razzle Dazzle (2012), joined The Sound Of White (2004) and On A Clear Night (2007) in debuting at #1 on the Australian charts. The three albums have collectively sold over a million album copies in this country and earned her nine ARIA Awards but Solastalgia sees the beloved Australian singer/songwriter exploring new frontiers. Synthetic soundscapes and drum loops now underpin the organic pianos and acoustic guitar tones that people typically associate with Missy, perhaps reflecting the addition of new production collaborator Pip Norman (Tzu, Troy Sivan) and mixer John O’Mahony (Vance Joy, Coldplay, Metric).

The album also sees some different lyrical approaches and as its title suggests, there actually is a bit of an apocalyptic theme that runs through many of the new tunes.

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“I’ve always tried to write honestly about what’s going on inside my head and that’s still the case so in a way nothing has changed”, Missy explains. “When I was a teenager I was writing songs about early heartbreaks and other stuff I was experiencing but my life’s very different now. I got married. We had a baby. My priorities have changed and my thoughts are gravitating towards different things like, well, the end of the world!” 

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Coinciding with the release of SOLASTALGIA is an East Coast tour through May with special guest, Sydney-based singer Gordi. Kicking off in Queensland at Brisbane’s QPAC Concert Hall on Friday 4 May, the tour will go on to visit Toowoomba, Wollongong, Sydney, Canberra and Adelaide before wrapping up with a special hometown show at Melbourne’s Palais Theatre on Sunday 13 May.

Missy is thrilled to showcase the songs from SOLASTALGIA, her first album of original music in six years, live to fans saying, “I’m so excited to finally road-test my new tunes in all these beautiful venues across the country. This album is really different from anything I’ve done before, I think people will be really surprised, but I think the songs will fit nicely alongside my old material, too. There are a lot of female harmonies in the new material so I’m glad we’re gonna have four amazing women on stage belting them out!”

Pre-empting the release of SOLASTALGIA is a special guest role with international superstar (and self-confessed fan), Ed Sheeran on his Australian stadium tour. Performing a 40-minute set at all of his shows, Missy will play to nearly a million people across the country. In addition to those dozen stadium dates Missy will also perform a stripped down show at the Blue Mountains Music Festival on March 18 and a full band gig on Cottesloe Beach in Perth on April 8 for which tickets are already on sale.

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