Adelaide-based songwriter Dan Higgins has turned a personal songwriting challenge into a complete creative statement with his new seven-track album, ‘Twenty Twenty Six’.
What began as a simple goal- to write and release one song every month- quickly grew into something much bigger. Higgins set himself the challenge at the beginning of the year, eventually writing and releasing 13 tracks before slowing down and channeling that momentum into a more focused body of work.
The result is Twenty Twenty Six, a concise album that runs for 25 minutes and 30 seconds. Rather than simply continuing to release music at the pace he had established, Higgins stepped back to consider what the songs could become as part of a larger project.
That decision gives the album a strong sense of progression. Across its seven tracks, Higgins explores different moods while maintaining the personal and independent approach that defines the record. The album opens with ‘Commuting’, a song that immediately introduces the idea of movement. Its subject matter turns an everyday experience into something more reflective, highlighting Higgins’ ability to find meaning in ordinary moments.
‘Incandescent’ follows, opening another chapter in the album’s musical journey, while ‘Man’s Fear’ brings a heavier emotional intensity. Driven by guitar-focused energy and a more direct sense of vulnerability, the track allows Higgins to explore deeper personal emotions through his rock influences.
Elsewhere, ‘The World Is Ours Tonight’ expands the album’s energy before ‘2011’ turns towards memory and reflection. The record continues to shift between different emotional spaces without losing its overall sense of cohesion.
‘Cariad’ provides one of the album’s softer moments. Built around a more acoustic-driven approach, the track allows Higgins’ songwriting and melodic instincts to take centre stage, adding another dimension to a project that also embraces distortion, driving guitars and heavier arrangements.
The album closes with ‘Night Light’, giving the project a purposeful final chapter and leaving behind a sense of completion. After the movement and experimentation of the preceding tracks, the closing song brings the seven-track journey to a natural end.
One of the most distinctive aspects of Twenty Twenty Six is how completely self-made it is. Higgins writes, performs, and records the music himself, handling the lyrics, guitar parts, vocals, and recording decisions that shape the finished project. That one-person approach gives the album a particularly personal character. Instead of feeling like a collection assembled through multiple creative voices, Twenty Twenty Six reflects one artist’s concentration, musical instincts, and willingness to explore his own range.
Higgins balances driving guitar tones and memorable hooks with quieter acoustic moments, allowing the album to move between intensity and reflection. The contrast keeps the project dynamic while ensuring that the songwriting remains central.
More importantly, the album documents a process of growth. The original challenge gave Higgins the discipline to keep creating, while the decision to slow down demonstrated that consistency does not always mean maintaining the same pace. Sometimes the next stage of creativity comes from stepping back, reassessing the work and giving ideas more room to develop.
In that sense, Twenty Twenty Six is more than the result of a songwriting challenge. It is a snapshot of Dan Higgins’ creative evolution, shaped by discipline, independence and a willingness to turn an ambitious yearly goal into something more considered.
Across seven tracks and just over 25 minutes, Higgins presents a project that feels handmade and personal, while showing the range that can emerge when one songwriter takes complete control of the creative process.
