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See Also: Missy Higgins - Exclusive Interview

On a Clear Night, the latest release from Aussie singer-songwriter Missy Higgins, is a creamy-smooth blend of piano ballad and folk-pop guitar. With a voice like Sarah McLachlan channeling Fiona Apple, but with timbres and simplicity all her own, Higgins sings with just a hint of delicious Down-Under accent, savoring the lyrics as if she’s chewing the words. (For more on Higgins, check out the accompanying interview.)

The album is eminently listenable. The first half-dozen cuts, especially, boast a finely crafted prosody, weaving lyrics, melody and rhythm together for an evocative, full-throated sound despite the almost minimalist production of Mitchell Froom (Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, Crowded House).

The kick-off track, Where I Stood, which has been featured on episodes of Smallville and Grey’s Anatomy, is a lush piano ballad about finding closure and learning to let go of a love who’s slipped away: “she will love you more than I could / she who dares to stand where I stood.”

100 Round the Bends lays down a light pop-jazz guitar groove, inviting the listener to “Jump in my car, we’ll go 100 round the bends / And we’ll pretend that feeling rage is feeling real,” while Steer, featured on Live Earth: The Concerts for a Climate in Crisis DVD, snaps along with an insistent guitar, a free-crying call to independence: “But the search ends here / Where the night is totally clear / And your heart is fierce / So now you finally know that you control where you go / You can steer.”

The darkly sensual Secret slinks along a syncopated, bluesy guitar and an ominous bass drum underscoring forbidden tension, “’Cos you’ve got a secret, don’t ya babe?” The tension is eased in Warm Whispers, a flowing ballad perfect for sock-hop slow dancing: “Your warm whispers / Out of the dark they carry my heart / … And I’m weeping warm honey and milk.”

The next few tracks, lamentably, slide into a monotonous chick-a-boom beat, with lyrics that don’t do much to inspire, with the exception of Going North, which might rank as road music: “So goodbye for awhile, I’m out to learn more / About who I really was before / Yeah, I’m going north.”

On a Clear Night closes out with a soft guitar ballad and hollow, haunting vocals about a man who’s picked the forbidden fruit: “And Lord, I long to give it back / And I was on shaky land / Lost and unsure I opened my hand / And she held it like sinking sand / … Forgive me.”

Already certified triple platinum in Australia, and landing Higgins Australia’s “Best Female Artist” award, On a Clear Night is slated for a February 12 release in the U.S. Look for it.