Rebekah Higgs has a charming little voice, which is a bit of a surprise given the brooding, unhinged-like pose she takes on the cover of her self-titled album. Higgs has created ten tracks of soft, sighing secrets revealed as whispers in our ear. This wholly relaxed and down-to-earth record is a showcase of a genre of music that is reflective, soothing, and gorgeous.

Higgs’ indie sound has been described as meld of folk, pop, and shoegaze. There is definitely a homespun, purely emotional quality about Higg’s sound and lyrics, which are simple and unassuming. I find this to be very common among Canada’s more notable female artists; in Higgs, I hear a particular likeness to Metric’s Emily Haines and even more so like Haines’ Broken Social Scene co-collaborator Leslie Feist — both musicians who have also been marked a subdued and lilting sound. If you like any of the aforementioned, you’ll take a shine to Higgs.

My favourite tracks are “parables” and “my feet”. “Apples” is the cool and complex odd-one-out on this album —a great song of blended sound, a lyric-less meld that is much more constructed and experimental than anything else on the album.

This release was recorded in Toronto with producer Thomas Payne (who hails of Joydrop fame) and was issued in late 2006. Rebekah Higgs has, so far, turned quite a few heads; her debut has received praise from several critics and earned Higgs a nomination for Best New Artist at the 2008 East Coast Music Awards.



Track Listing:

parables
mr weatherman
wedding one
apples
don’t mind me
my feet
love is
piano song
winding watch
happy