Missy Higgins performed her latest single ‘When The Machine Starts’ live for the first time on The Sound over the weekend (November 8).
In the segment, Higgins played the track with her band outside a (relatively) empty Flinders Street station in Melbourne, intercut with clips of her wandering the city’s famous laneways – also empty in the clip, evidently filmed before restrictions were eased.
It accords with the theme of the track, written during the first lockdown, which the singer described in a press release as a “post-it note to my future self: ‘don’t forget the good things you’ve learnt!’”.
Watch the performance below.
The same episode of The Sound also featured performances from Midnight Oil, Missy Higgins, Ocean Alley, Tasman Keith and more. Christine Anu, Ngaiire, Electric Fields‘ Zaachariah Fielding and Emma Donovan covered Warumpi Band’s 1987 track ‘My Island Home’ from their respective hometowns. Archie Roach performed an intimate rework of his 1990 track ‘Summer of My Life’ with Jess Hitchcock.
‘When The Machine Starts’ is Higgins’ second single of 2020, ‘Carry You’, Higgins’ Tim Minchin-penned track released in January. Minchin’s version of the track is set to appear on his studio debut album, ‘Apart Together’, released later this month.