July 12, 2012 | Kate Miller-Heidke at T.T. the Bear's Place

At first, the Kate Miller-Heidke song “Politics in Space” seems like rote but competently made pop rock. Then Miller-Heidke blasts the song into the stratosphere, complementing its acoustic guitar slaps with spiraling vocal swells that would be at home in an opera house. It’s no new trick for the Australian songstress. Since 2000, Miller-Heidke has combined classically trained pipes, melodic piano work, and six-string compositions with an alt-pop sensibility, resulting in dramatic numbers like “The Last Day on Earth.” Fresh off the release of her third album, Nightflight, Miller-Heidke comes to Cambridge for a 9 p.m. show at T.T. the Bear’s Place (10 Brookline Street, Cambridge, 617.492.0082). For tickets ($9), visit ticketweb.com.