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My first exposure to Kate Miller-Heidke was in August 2006 when she was part of Broad, a touring concert featuring 5 Australian female singer-songwriters. Although all the performers were exceptional, Miller-Heidke stood out as... ummm.. different... dressed in a fluffy dress, possessing a phenomenal vocal range and singing quirky, observational songs.

Circular Breathing is Kate Miller-Heidke's second solo EP, released in 2006. 3 of the 6 songs are written by Miller-Heidke, while the others are written by collaborator Keir Nuttall, who presumably also plays guitar on the EP. The music is hard to categorise but is probably best described as pop-folk. Miller-Heidke has a typical modern Australian female folk voice, only better. Her voice is strong, bright and a little edgy. Very occasionally she shows off her operatic training but certainly doesn't overdo it... unlike her live performances where she sometimes enjoys overdoing her vocals to great effect! Miller-Heidke is also a very good pianist.

Apartment is the stand-out track of this EP. It is a song about Miller-Heidke's experiences of living in an apartment, as compared to a house, for the first time. The lyrics are quirky and clever, and contain one of the best lyrical bait-and-switches I've ever heard. This song alone is worth the price of admission.

The other songs on the EP are very good. The opening track Out and In is a beautiful piano and acoustic guitar based ballad, reminiscent of Kate Bush at her most pleasant. Nuttall's River Of Dreams also stands out and closes the set nicely.

On Circular Breathing Kate Miller-Heidke shows a lot of promise. She is one of the most unique solo artists I've heard in a long time. I'm looking forward to catching a full live show and hearing her first full album Little Eve, which was released earlier this week.