MISS LITTLE – WHEN THINGS FALL APART AND INTO PLACE

For somebody on the cusp of releasing their debut album, Sarah McCallum – a.k.a. Miss Little – already has a very impressive résumé. After topping her native New Zealand in school certificate and HSC-equivalent music, McCallum has received a string of national and international awards for her compositions. This well-rounded musicianship is evident right from the start of the album, in the lush vocal arrangements on opener Where’s The Way Out. Whereas many singer-songwriter albums come across as hollow, hackneyed vehicles for a mildly distinctive voice, When Things Fall Apart and Into Place is sonically rich and diverse, and McCallum’s skills as a composer, producer and performer are all on display. Each song has its own unique sounds – the woozy saxophone interludes on A Place Without Time, the crunchy distorted piano on Missed The Boat, the Arabesque clarinet choir which opens Tunnel Vision. These are united, however, by McCallum’s powerful multi-tracked vocal harmonies. Her songs often contain unusual and complex ideas, but they are never alienating, and it is this balance between innovation and listenability which marks Miss Little as a cut above the rest. Her guest performance onstage with Crowded House last year at the Hordern Pavillion should come as no surprise, then – When Things Fall Apart and Into Place is the cream of the current singer-songwriting crop.

****