WAXX LYRICAL MEDIA CENTRE:
A love letter to music – written by those who listen closely.
COLUMNS
Heatseekers
Asta's 'Drip': The Art Of The Pop Hook
From teenage triple j Unearthed High winner to fully fledged retro-pop powerhouse, Asta has spent more than a decade delivering irresistible hooks. With new single ‘DRIP’ out in the world, she talks Cosmo's Midnight, creative independence, questionable romantic decisions and finding the fun in making music again.
Forever Five
Forever Five: Sam Hales (The Jungle Giants)
Sam Hales of The Jungle Giants reveals his Forever Five essential albums.
Live Reviews + Photos
You Am I & Dana Gehrman: Heavy Art, Heavy Hearts
30 years on, You Am I revisit Hourly Daily with a string section, a spectacularly dressed Tim Rogers and a few surprises.
Live Reviews + Photos
The Buoys, Oscar the Wild & Sunburn: Three Bands, One Very Good Night
New songs, a new drummer and three bands worth your attention. Annette Geneva catches The Buoys kicking off their Concrete Cowboy tour in Hobart, with Oscar the Wild and local newcomers Sunburn making their own impressions.
Live Reviews + Photos
Courtney Barnett at The Tivoli: Staying in Her Lane
Courtney Barnett returns to Brisbane's Tivoli with a formidable power trio, a new album and a renewed sense of joy. Chris Searles finds an artist entirely comfortable in her own skin.
BZ Reviews
Lily Allen Live: West End Girl Gets Lost Between Stage and Stadium
Lily Allen brings West End Girl to Sydney's TikTok Entertainment Centre. Bernard Zuel examines an ambitious show caught between theatre and pop concert.
Record Of The Month Deep Dives
Ecca Vandal: The Long Road to LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO UNFOLLOW
Nine years between albums. Explore Ecca Vandal's remarkable return with LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO UNFOLLOW in our Waxx Lyrical Deep Dive.
News
Westside Cowboy Announce Debut Australian Tour for March 2027
Manchester's Westside Cowboy are bringing their gloriously ragged indie rock to Australia for the first time, with three headline shows and a Golden Plains appearance following the release of It Goes On.
Jonesing For This One
Jonesing For This One: Matthew Sweet, Girlfriend
A chance discovery at a suburban video store leads Matt Jones to Matthew Sweet’s Girlfriend, a ’90s power-pop gem featuring some extraordinary guitar work.
Heatseekers
Snow Koppes: A Musical Inheritance, a Sound of Her Own
Raised on rock royalty but determined to find her own sound, Snow Koppes talks grunge, growing up with The Church, writing with Ratcat's Simon Day and the stories behind her two new singles.
Reviews
The Avalanches – No Bad Memories: Album Review
Bernard Zuel finds joy, nostalgia and the warmth of old friendships in No Bad Memories, as The Avalanches turn 31 fleeting musical moments into something deeply rewarding.
News
Geese Announce 2027 Australian Tour: Getting Killed Again
Brooklyn's Geese are heading back to Australia in 2027. Following the extraordinary success of Getting Killed, the band return for their biggest headline shows yet.
Waxx Lyrical
Forever Five: Sam Hales (The Jungle Giants)
Sam Hales of The Jungle Giants reveals his Forever Five essential albums.
Waxx Lyrical
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.
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: Ella Hooper
From teenage Killing Heidi firebrand to award-winning songwriter and Americana troubadour, Ella Hooper has spent more than 25 years making her mark on Australian music. For her Forever Five, she takes us back to the records that helped make her.
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: Pinky Beecroft (Machine Gun Fellatio)
Five albums Pinky Beecroft 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.
Annette Geneva
MJ Lenderman’s Manning Fireworks and the Fine Art of Falling Too Hard
For Annette Geneva, MJ Lenderman’s Manning Fireworks is less a record to review than one to obsess over. This month’s Written In Reverb is an unabashed love letter to its crooked humour, glorious guitars and irresistible imperfections.
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
Phoebe Bridgers, Ryan Adams, and the Songs That Keep Emotional Receipts
Annette Geneva unpacks Phoebe Bridgers’ Stranger in the Alps, Ryan Adams, complicated fandom, and the songs that keep emotional receipts long after the people attached to them have changed.
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.
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.
Matt Jones
Jonesing For This One: Matthew Sweet, Girlfriend
A chance discovery at a suburban video store leads Matt Jones to Matthew Sweet’s Girlfriend, a ’90s power-pop gem featuring some extraordinary guitar work.
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: Portishead – Third
Matt Jones returns to make the case for Portishead’s Third, the darker, stranger and more adventurous album hiding in the enormous shadow of Dummy.
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: Chris Whitley – Living with the Law
Matt Jones returns with Jonesing For This One to revisit Chris Whitley’s Living with the Law, an overlooked 1991 gem of blues, folk and rock.
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.
Ben Preece
Asta's 'Drip': The Art Of The Pop Hook
From teenage triple j Unearthed High winner to fully fledged retro-pop powerhouse, Asta has spent more than a decade delivering irresistible hooks. With new single ‘DRIP’ out in the world, she talks Cosmo's Midnight, creative independence, questionable romantic decisions and finding the fun in making music again.
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
Snow Koppes: A Musical Inheritance, a Sound of Her Own
Raised on rock royalty but determined to find her own sound, Snow Koppes talks grunge, growing up with The Church, writing with Ratcat's Simon Day and the stories behind her two new singles.
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.
Ben Preece
LARGE MIRAGE Have the Songs to Back It Up
Big riffs, soaring harmonies and proper songwriting. Sydney's LARGE MIRAGE talk ‘Wildfire’, recording with Michael Badger, sharing a stage with AC/DC and why the human element matters.
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.