Forever Five: Sally Seltmann

Waxx Lyrical
Oct 3
3 min read

Updated: Oct 10

Ever wondered what albums sit atop your favourite artists’ turntables? Forever Five is a Waxx Lyrical series spotlighting the five records that shaped the artists we love most. No rankings, no essays — just the albums that live closest to their hearts. Come for the choices, stay for the typically remarkable playlist that follows — woven from their picks and their own catalogue — culminating in a fascinating little mini music lesson every time.

SALLY SELTMANN

🎙 New Buffalo / Seeker Lover Keeper / Solo Artist

🌷 Dream-pop architect. Melodic romantic. Quiet visionary.

💡 The songwriter who gave Feist her “1 2 3 4,” and gave the rest of us worlds to fall into.

🎶 From bedroom beginnings to orchestral pop grandeur, her music shimmers with empathy and imagination.

💚 Forever drawn to beauty, melancholy, and the delicate spaces in between.

Sally Seltmann — Australian singer-songwriter and producer, photographed in soft natural light, dreamlike portrait.

Sally Seltmann has always floated a little above the noise — drifting between melody and memory, turning introspection into art.

Whether as New Buffalo, part of Seeker Lover Keeper alongside Sarah Blasko and Holly Throsby, or under her own name, she’s long been celebrated for her deft storytelling and lush, cinematic approach to pop.

Her fingerprints reach far beyond her own records: she co-wrote Feist’s breakout hit ‘1 2 3 4,’ and has quietly influenced a generation of Australian songwriters who value emotional detail over volume.

Seltmann’s Forever Five is both classic and curious — a set of albums that mirrors her artistry: tender yet bold, romantic yet strange, always in search of transcendence. These are the records spinning most often in her world right now — each one a window into the heart and mind of one of Australia’s most quietly visionary voices.

Forever Five Kris Schroeder

LISTEN — SALLY SELTMANN'S FOREVER FIVE

A trio of tracks from each of her choices, plus an essential five tracks of her own.

The resulting playlist flows like a short music history lesson.

Sally Seltmann’s Forever Five Albums

The Velvet Underground & Nico – The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)

A masterpiece of art-rock minimalism and raw emotional truth. Its beauty lies in its contradictions — sweet melodies bruised by noise and honesty. For Seltmann, it’s a reminder that vulnerability and edge can coexist, perfectly imperfect.

Nina Simone – Little Girl Blue (1959)

Elegant, aching, eternal. Simone’s debut is the sound of pure feeling — restraint and fire in equal measure. It’s an album that reminds Seltmann that simplicity can be revolutionary, and that truth is often found in the quietest voice.

The Avalanches – Since I Left You (2000)

A kaleidoscopic dream built from fragments of sound and memory. Its collage of samples and moods feels like nostalgia made music — something Seltmann has long woven into her own ethereal world.

Portishead – Dummy (1994)

Seductive and spectral, Dummy remains a blueprint for emotional atmosphere. Its cinematic trip-hop pulse, haunted vocals, and noirish textures echo through Seltmann’s own fascination with mood, vulnerability, and space.

Marilyn Monroe – I Wanna Be Loved By You (2012)

A compilation that captures Monroe’s timeless allure — fragile, playful, and wistful all at once. For Seltmann, it’s a study in femininity as performance and poetry, reminding her that beauty and sadness are often intertwined.