WAXX LYRICAL MEDIA CENTRE:
A love letter to music – written by those who listen closely.
COLUMNS
Written In Reverb
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.
Album Reviews
DMA’S, Self-Titled: The Art of Coming Full Circle
Ten years into their career, DMA’S have made a record that looks backwards without getting stuck in the past. Their self-titled album is a wonderfully human reminder of what made them special in the first place.
Interviews
Inside Laid: A Conversation with James’ Saul Davies
Saul Davies of James joins Waxx Lyrical to revisit our previous Record Of The Month, Laid.
Forever Five
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.
Album Reviews
Fontaines D.C., Dopamine Chamber: A Bigger World, a Darker View
Fontaines D.C. expand their world with electronics, orchestral beauty and a stunning Rosalía collaboration. Could Dopamine Chamber carry them further into the mainstream?
Heatseekers
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.
Reviews
Blondshell – Violins: Beauty, Violence & Killer Guitars
Blondshell’s Violins is sharp and intimate where beauty, violence, healing and killer guitars collide.
Album Reviews
Prince – Timeless: Ten Songs, Five Decades and One Big Question: Who Is This For?
Prince obsessive Ben Preece dives deep into Timeless, tracing every song back through five decades of Prince history, from 1977 to his final tour in 2016.
Live Reviews + Photos
James & Razorlight at The Fortitude Music Hall | Welcome to the Cult of James
James and Razorlight deliver an extraordinary night at Brisbane's Fortitude Music Hall. A spectacular celebration of Laid, devotion and British rock.
Record Of The Month Deep Dives
Pixies – Doolittle: Inside the Album That Changed Alternative Rock
Pixies made Doolittle stranger, sharper and more accessible without losing any of their bite. We go track by track through the 1989 album that helped rewrite the language of alternative rock.
Jonesing For This One
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.
Column
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.
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: Pete Murray
Waxx Lyrical's Forever Five with Pete Murray — five albums he can't live without.
Waxx Lyrical
Forever Five: Mama Kin
Waxx Lyrical's Forever Five with Mama Kin — five albums she 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: Sally Seltmann
Waxx Lyrical's Forever Five with Sally Seltmann — five albums she can't live without.
Waxx Lyrical
Forever Five: Bad//Dreems
Waxx Lyrical's Forever Five: Five albums Bad//Dreems 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.
Waxx Lyrical
Forever Five: Kris Schroeder
Waxx Lyrical's Forever Five with Kris Schroeder — 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
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.
Benjamin Bahr
Lucienne Lights the Way on ‘The Same Death’
Lucienne’s ‘The Same Death’ is a soulful, shimmering act of defiance — a gospel-laced pop anthem for anyone done dimming their light.
Ben Preece
Jangle, Joy and Hanging On: Meet The Tullamarines
Following the breakout success of ‘Running On Empty’, The Tullamarines lean into self-doubt, sunny guitars, and cathartic honesty on 'Lying', their most addictive track yet.
Ben Preece
Morgan Saint: In Her Own Rhythm
NYC-bred indie pop auteur Morgan Saint is carving her own niche in the city's underground. We spoke to her about her new album & her process
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
Abi Muir’s ‘On One Knee’ Flips Heartbreak Into a Power Play
Abi Muir isn’t just healing — she’s headlining her own emotional comeback.
Ben Preece
Begin Again, Again: J Mahon’s Long Road to Right Now
J Mahon opens up from Berlin about shedding old identities, staying clean, and writing hundreds of songs in search of something real.
Ben Preece
Introducing betNwa: Charli XCX meets Tyler, The Creator With A Guitar-Pedal Fetish
betNwa is the musical project of Brisbane-based transfem artist home recordist & regular Waxx Lyrical Love Letter columnist, Bette Benjamin
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.
Ben Preece
Emily Ulman Finds Her Voice Again on ‘Mountains Mountains Mountains’
Emily Ulman’s ‘Mountains Mountains Mountains’ is a quiet triumph — a return that doesn’t beg to be heard, but deserves to be felt.
Ben Preece
A Reclamation of Self: Ladi Abundance Breathes New Life into Music
Ladi Abundance returns with 'Breathe, It's Just A Human'—a soulful slow-burn rooted in healing, motherhood, and self-reclamation.
Ben Preece
Guy Dent: All About Fun, Music, and a Little Chaos
Guy Dent is an unconventional Brisbane musician, blending a clear love for music’s iconic hits of the past with his own unique flair.