WAXX LYRICAL MEDIA CENTRE:
A love letter to music – written by those who listen closely.
COLUMNS
Forever Five
Forever Five: Pinky Beecroft (Machine Gun Fellatio)
Five albums Pinky Beecroft can't live without.
Film Reviews
Mile End Kicks: Main Character Syndrome, Bad Decisions and the Strange Humiliation of Becoming Yourself
Chandler Levack’s Mile End Kicks is a funny, painfully familiar coming-of-age story about music obsession, youthful entitlement and the awkward gap between who we are and who we think we’re becoming.
Album Reviews
Ed O’Brien Finds His Wings on Blue Morpho
In his first ever review for Waxx Lyrical, Rhys Mackenzie takes on Ed O’Brien’s Blue Morpho, a meditative, textured journey through crisis, nature, spirituality and quiet transformation.
Film Reviews
Supergirl Doesn’t Need Your Approval
Rebecca Gisborne reviews Supergirl, finding a superhero film less interested in likability than goodness, agency and the right to be messy.
Reviews
Spider-Man: Brand New Day: My Spidey Spark Is Back
Rebecca Gisborne returns to the Spider-Verse with Brand New Day, finding plenty to enjoy in Tom Holland’s more mature Peter Parker, an expanded Marvel cast and a franchise that may have rediscovered its spark.
Column
Forever Five: Tania Doko (Bachelor Girl)
Bachelor Girl’s Tania Doko reveals the five albums she can’t live without, spanning Donny Hathaway’s soul, John Farnham’s warmth, Robyn’s emotional pop, Chris Stapleton’s country grit and Sam Fender’s urgency.
Jonesing For This One
Jonesing For This One: The Chills, Submarine Bells
Matt Jones heads across the Tasman for the latest Jonesing For This One, revisiting The Chills' Submarine Bells — a New Zealand masterpiece filled with dazzling lyrics, gorgeous melodies, and one of the greatest hidden gems of the '90s.
Heatseekers
Ewan Jackson on heartbreak, hindsight and finding comfort in looking back
Sydney singer-songwriter Ewan Jackson talks heartbreak, hindsight, home recording and the stories behind The World From Here, as his first two EPs come together for the first time on What I've Done So Far.
Album Reviews
Budjerah’s Gentleman: Style, Restraint and the Search for Individuality
Budjerah’s debut album Gentleman is a classy, carefully considered blend of contemporary R&B, gospel and ’90s foundations, carried by a marvellous voice and plenty of style. Bernard Zuel asks whether the individuality can now catch up with the polish.
Album Reviews
Thirty Years Down the Wrong Road: Modest Mouse Keep Moving Through the Maze
Thirty years in, Modest Mouse are still following the crooked road. An Eraser and a Maze is messy, haunted, funny and stubbornly alive.
Reviews
Snocaps Album Review: Where Waxahatchee, P.S. Eliot and MJ Lenderman Meet
Snocaps’ self-titled debut is where Katie and Allison Crutchfield, MJ Lenderman and Brad Cook turn indie folklore into something beautifully human.
Column
Twenty Years Wide Awake: A Love Letter to Bright Eyes’ I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
Bright Eyes’ I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning album cover, used for Annette Geneva’s Written In Reverb column on the beloved 2005 indie-folk record.
Waxx Lyrical
Forever Five: Pinky Beecroft (Machine Gun Fellatio)
Five albums Pinky Beecroft can't live without.
Waxx Lyrical
Forever Five: Paul Dempsey
Paul Dempsey selects the five albums he can't live without.
Waxx Lyrical
Forever Five: Murray Cook
Waxx Lyrical's Forever Five with Murray Cook of the OG Wiggles — five albums he can't live without.
Waxx Lyrical
Forever Five: Ross Wilson
Waxx Lyrical's Forever Five with Ross Wilson — five albums he can't live without.
Waxx Lyrical
Forever Five: Matt Corby
Matt Corby shares the five albums he can’t live without, from D’Angelo’s deep soul to J Dilla’s dusty genius.
Waxx Lyrical
Forever Five: Simon Day (Ratcat)
Waxx Lyrical's Forever Five with Simon Day of Ratcat — five albums he can't live without.
Waxx Lyrical
Forever Five: Polish Club
Waxx Lyrical's Forever Five with Novak and JH from Polish Club — five albums they can't live without.
Waxx Lyrical
Forever Five: Joe Camilleri (The Black Sorrows)
Waxx Lyrical's Forever Five with Joe Camilleri of The Black Sorrows — five albums he can't live without.
Waxx Lyrical
Forever Five: Tim Rogers
Tim Rogers selects the five albums he can't live without.
Waxx Lyrical
Forever Five: Butch Walker
Waxx Lyrical's Forever Five with Butch Walker — five albums he can't live without.
Waxx Lyrical
Forever Five: Glenn Richards (Augie March)
Waxx Lyrical's Forever Five with Glenn Richards — five albums he can't live without.
Waxx Lyrical
Forever Five: James Smith (Yard Act)
Waxx Lyrical's Forever Five with James Smith — five albums he can't live without.
Annette Geneva
Twenty Years Wide Awake: A Love Letter to Bright Eyes’ I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
Bright Eyes’ I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning album cover, used for Annette Geneva’s Written In Reverb column on the beloved 2005 indie-folk record.
Annette Geneva
How Manchester Orchestra Taught Us to Sit With Discomfort
A Written In Reverb essay on Manchester Orchestra’s debut, exploring discomfort, vulnerability, and why I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child still matters.
Annette Geneva
Neon on Skin, Needle Down: A Love Letter To Metric's 'Fantasies'
Through Annette Geneva’s lens, 2009 comes alive again — neon-lit nights, sticky dance floors, and Metric’s Fantasies pulsing through it all.
Annette Geneva
Still Listening: Frightened Rabbit’s Painting Of A Panic Attack
Annette Geneva's Written In Reverb is a personal column about the records that resonate through time—haunting, healing, and holding us when we need them most. In this first instalment, she writes a love letter to Frightened Rabbit’s Painting of a Panic Attack and the echoes left behind by Scott Hutchison’s voice.
Annette Geneva
The Dead Weather’s Horehound: Swamp Gospel for the Unprepared
Written In Reverb: Annette Geneva descends into Horehound — a dark, immersive exploration of power, desire, and identity...
Annette Geneva
How Jimmy Eat World's Bleed American Taught Us to Feel Loudly
A love letter to Jimmy Eat World’s Bleed American — emo’s most generous masterpiece,.
Annette Geneva
Spoon's Gimme Fiction: The Album That Rearranged Me
Annette Geneva reflects on Spoon’s Gimme Fiction — a cult classic that still burns. Not a love letter, but a thank-you note to its lasting impact.
Annette Geneva
The Space Between Years: Butch Walker’s Peachtree Battle & the Shape of Losing a Parent
Butch Walker’s Peachtree Battle — an EP written in the shadow of losing a father.
Annette Geneva
On DMA’S The Glow, Sydney, and the Beautiful Stupidity of Wanting More
For AusMusicMonth, Annette Geneva writes a luminous Written In Reverb essay on DMA’S The Glow.
Annette Geneva
Still Bleeding Softly: 10 Years of Sufjan Stevens' Carrie & Lowell
Annette Geneva explores Sufjan Stevens’ Carrie & Lowell in Written In Reverb: a moving look at grief, memory, and the album’s lasting emotional power.
Matt Jones
Jonesing For This One: The Chills, Submarine Bells
Matt Jones heads across the Tasman for the latest Jonesing For This One, revisiting The Chills' Submarine Bells — a New Zealand masterpiece filled with dazzling lyrics, gorgeous melodies, and one of the greatest hidden gems of the '90s.
Matt Jones
Jonesing For This One: Midnight Oil's Earth And Sun And Moon
Matt Jones revisits Midnight Oil’s Earth and Sun and Moon in the wake of Rob Hirst’s passing — a nostalgic, heartfelt tribute to one of the band’s most underrated albums.
Matt Jones
Jonesing For This One: INXS, Welcome To Wherever You Are
Matt Jones revisits INXS’ overlooked 1992 album Welcome to Wherever You Are and makes the case for it as the band’s boldest, most adventurous, and perhaps most underrated release. A forgotten gem from one of Australia’s greatest bands.
Matt Jones
Jonesing For This One: James Iha’s Let It Come Down
Matt Jones returns with Jonesing For This One, spotlighting James Iha’s Let It Come Down — a sunny, surprising solo album that rewards time and repeat listens.
Matt Jones
Jonesing For This One: Alexandra Saviour, Belladonna of Sadness
Matt Jones returns with Jonesing For This One, spotlighting Alexandra Saviour’s Belladonna of Sadness — a smoky, cinematic debut best enjoyed front to back.
Matt Jones
Jonesing For This One: Crowded House – Temple of Low Men
Matt Jones launches his new Waxx Lyrical column Jonesing For This One by revisiting Crowded House’s Temple of Low Men.
Ben Preece
Prince’s Psychedelic Gamble: The Legacy of Around the World in a Day
At the height of his powers, Prince swerved left—dropping a psychedelic curveball and telling the label to hold the singles. Forty years on, it still feels like a risk only he could pull off.
Ben Preece
The Long Hard Road to Wildflowers and How Tom Petty Learned to Let Go
A deep dive into Tom Petty’s most vulnerable album, Wildflowers, its lost songs, and the story behind the music that listens back.
Benjamin Bahr
Ewan Jackson on heartbreak, hindsight and finding comfort in looking back
Sydney singer-songwriter Ewan Jackson talks heartbreak, hindsight, home recording and the stories behind The World From Here, as his first two EPs come together for the first time on What I've Done So Far.
Ben Preece
HAMMERS: Riding the Death Wobbles to Debut Album
Post-hardcore grit, dark humour and concrete-bowl chaos — Lucas Stone of HAMMERS unpack Death Wobbles and their long-awaited debut.
Benjamin Bahr
Brazen Barbie: Chaos, Control & ‘Ain’t No Dummy’
High-glam, fence-hopping, and ten steps ahead — Brazen Barbie isn’t asking for the spotlight, she’s taking it.
Ben Preece
Meet Chuck Sics: The Control Freak Making Beautiful Musical Chaos
Chuck Sics crafts hazy, sun-warped pop with raw honesty. Read our Heatseeker Q&A on ‘REDO’, self-growth, and DIY sonic magic.
Ben Preece
Duke Box Steps Gently Into The Real World With A Debut Full Of Heart
Lo-fi, keys-driven and quietly heartfelt, Duke Box’s Welcome To The Real World is a debut album built on honesty, nostalgia, and songs that feel like they’ve been waiting patiently to be heard.
Benjamin Bahr
Fjords, Silence and Song: Inside Ben Provest’s ‘Trying To Be Brave’
Australian artist Ben Provest talks heartbreak, Icelandic isolation, creative flow and the making of his new cinematic folk single ‘Trying To Be Brave’.
Benjamin Bahr
Behind Jordan Laser’s 'Holiday', A Haunting New Chapter
Sydney alt-pop artist Jordan Laser returns with ‘Holiday’ — a smoky, slow-burning meditation on love, longing and emotional limbo.
Benjamin Bahr
My Chérie Finds Beauty, Chaos, and Clarity on 'Life Is'
A true Heatseeker, My Chérie’s Life is swirls with whimsical drama and cinematic flair, firmly staking her own claim with sophisticated lyricism and an undeniable gift for crafting hook-laden melodies.
Ben Preece
Holding Grief and Hope in the Same Song: Talitha Jae on ‘Ada’
Talitha Jae opens up about ‘Ada’, her most personal song to date — a raw, intimate release shaped by infertility, miscarriage, and pregnancy after loss.
Benjamin Bahr
Miss Orange Juicy Return With The Fizzy ‘Sorry Not Sorry’
Miss Orange Juicy deliver fizzy pop with bite on new single ‘Sorry Not Sorry’. Mario Späte talks honesty, chaos, songwriting and the duo’s sweet-n-sour universe.
Ben Preece
JXCKY on 'THIRSTY', Revenge Rituals & Resurrection Through Chaos
After a hiatus and label departure, JXCKY claws his way back with ‘THIRSTY’ — a venomous, trap-driven evolution of his signature dark-pop.
Benjamin Bahr
JOAL: The Punk-Rock Meme Machine Turning Teenage Dreams Into the Jam of a Lifetime
Meet JOAL, Brisbane’s college-rock crew blending punk energy, indie vibes, and meme-worthy humour.