Melbourne singer-songwriter Vance Joy – real name James Keogh – has returned with ‘Missing Piece’, his first solo track in three years.
The bright and emotive new single was co-written with famed New Zealand multi-hyphenate Joel Little, whose resume boasts A-list collaborators like Taylor Swift, Imagine Dragons and Lorde. The track was inspired by relationships fractured by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Watch the Annelise Hickey-directed video for ‘Missing Piece’ below:
“‘Missing Piece’ is a song about being separated from someone you love,” Keogh said in a press release. “It can be tough but when what you have is good you know that these separations are just small stuff; you’re both holding the line. It’s about the stillness you find when you are together.
“I wrote it with Joel Little on a zoom call. I’m a big fan of his great songwriting and production. I think we tapped into something that’s relatable given so many people around the world have been separated recently due to restricted travel.”
Cited in that same presser as “the first taste of much more music to come”, ‘Missing Piece’ marks the first material in Keogh’s solo catalogue since the February 2018 release of his second studio album, ‘Nation of Two’. A follow-up to that LP is expected later in 2021, with Keogh spending much of his time in lockdown last year hard at work.
Though fans spent an uncommonly long time holding out for ‘Missing Piece’, Keogh has kept busy since his last album cycle wrapped up. Last year, he shared two unique cover tracks, putting his singer-songwriter twist on The Pogues’ ‘Fairytale of New York’ and DJ Sammy’s ‘Heaven’. Keogh also released a concert film in 2020, recorded during his ‘Nation of Two’ world tour.
Earlier this year, Keogh teamed up with Marshmello and Benny Blanco for the collaborative single ‘You’. He launched the track with a series of guerilla-style performances in the streets of Melbourne, dedicated to the late industry icon Michael Gudinski.