Stay up to date with all the Australian music releases from last week with Rolling Stone AU/NZ’s weekly roundup.
Check out the best new music from Aussie acts released last week below!
PANIA – Coming 2 Terms
PANIA’s latest EP Coming 2 Terms is a work of self-reflection, one that in its five-track runtime charts “the four stages of coming to terms with everything,” as she puts it. It’s a reflection of a new, focused purpose for the West Melbourne-raised artist, with lessons learned since her 2020 debut and no small amount of self-examination.
The Slingers – “Payphone Man”
The Slingers’ first new music in over a year is a dusty, swaggering release that embodies the restless energy of airport bars, dim hotel rooms, and the sleepless glow of a television spewing out news stories. Just like the song’s vivid lyricism, which references everything from Alan Vega to La Pietà, the accompanying music video is immaculately bleak and hypnotic.
Al Matcott – “All Night”
The opening track from Al Matcott’s upcoming album Fake the Days Away, out October 17th, “All Night” is a compelling statement of indie rock, with vocal, guitar, and bass melodies all surging along with momentum as he writes about the feeling of limerence.
As Matcott explains, “‘All Night’ was inspired by the poetry of Alejandra Pizarnick. The track explores the stark contrast between how obsessive and all-consuming night can be, in contrast with the barren desert of the morning after.”
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The Empty Threats – happy birthday
As the name suggests, happy birthday, the exhilarating second album from the Adelaide band, is a celebration of sorts. It’s the sound of a sweaty, scuzzy house party, full of anxiety, messy social relations, desire, pill-popping and bruised, bopping bodies, which threatens to descend into total chaos. But for all its frenzy and rollicking bliss, it also covers the terrain of a celebration’s aftermath — those painful revelations that turn crystalline at the break of dawn.
Selve – Breaking Into Heaven
Led by proud Jabirr Jabirr man Loki Liddle, Selve’s Breaking Into Heaven marks the first full-length album by an Aboriginal artist ever recorded at Abbey Road.
A powerful testament of First Nations stories, music and culture breaking into the spaces that have been stolen or denied to them and traditionally reserved for the select few, the album punctuates and refracts the listener’s consciousness like a glass brick through a window.
Meg Mac – “The Tune I’ll Be Singing Until I’m Dead”
Meg Mac’s latest single is a darkly playful track that doubles as both a cautionary tale and a personal reflection. It’s the second glimpse of her forthcoming album It’s My Party, due out later this year.
Produced with Nathan Jenkins, aka Bullion (Carly Rae Jepsen, Ben Howard), “The Tune I’ll Be Singing Until I’m Dead” draws on the Irish songs Mac’s mother sang to her as a child, pairing those influences with her knack for irresistible hooks. The track, Mac says, is about staring down the corrosive effects of bitterness.
Stella Donnelly – “Feel It Change”
“Feel It Change” is a new single off Donnelly’s upcoming album Love and Fortune, out November 7th. It will also feature double A-side single “Baths” / “Standing Ovation”, Donnelly’s first new music since her 2022 album Flood.
“It’s about the rumination of slowly peeling off the band-aid of a relationship that was doomed to fall apart. Trying to capture that phase of a break up where all you do is bristle and fizz in resentment and finger pointing,” she says of the single.
Chet Faker – “Inefficient Love”
ARIA-winning Chet Faker, born Nick Murphy, has released “Inefficient Love”, a raw, intimate follow-up to July’s “Far Side of the Moon”.
Where that last single dealt with the exhaustion of giving too much of yourself away, “Inefficient Love” shifts the focus to something quieter and more enduring: unconditional love, even when it feels uneven. Over a delicate guitar strum and hushed, layered vocals, he lets his guard down in one of his most intimate performances in years.
Matt Corby – “Long and Short”
Matt Corby’s latest soulful song is a return to the emotionally charged form of the Northern Rivers-based artist, and was written in a moment of acceptance after a great personal loss.
Written in collaboration with activist Shunguzo, it’s the first new solo music from Corby since 2023, which follows the release of his ARIA-nominated third studio album, Everything’s Fine, and swift follow-up single “Desert Land”.
Mitch Tambo – “Move Your Feet”
Mitch Tambo’s latest track is a blazing reimagining of the dance-floor classic “Move Your Feet”, an electrifying anthem pulsing with energy, culture, and pure joy that’s guaranteed to have crowds moving from the first beat.
The track transforms the early-2000s classic by Danish pop duo Junior Senior, exploding with nostalgic hooks and slick modern production while spotlighting Mitch’s unique ability to fuse cultural pride with mainstream pop brilliance.
BOY SODA – “Never the Same”
Off his highly-anticipated debut album SOULSTAR, out October 3rd, BOY SODA’s latest track “Never the Same” came in a period of isolation for the rising R&B artist, where he turned grief and devastation into recognition of the beauty of change and accepting that things can never be the same.
“Musically, the song is armoured by so many incredible musicians that are friends & produced by Finbar & myself in a way that feels so personal and under my skin. I cried a lot recording this song. It felt devastating for me to write it, because I hadn’t met such a fragile version of myself yet, but now it feels like a joyous and euphoric release of acceptance, and a surrendering to my emotions,” he says of the track.
James Johnston – “I OUGHTA KNOW BETTER”
The Australian country star’s latest single is a spirited nod to ’90s-era Alan Jackson classics with a modern twist. It is the newest taste of his second album Where You’ll Find Me, out October 24th.
The track signals a broader shift for Johnston as he steps into what he calls his “international era,” marrying glossy, festival-ready hooks with a raw, emotional centre. Where You’ll Find Me looks set to push his music far beyond Australia’s borders, reflecting a career that has already seen him take his music from viral TikTok clips to shows alongside US heavyweights such as Kip Moore.
Xavier Rudd – Where to Now
Xavier Rudd’s latest record developed naturally over a period of writing and recording, growing from a few individual songs into a full project. It includes the title track “Where to Now”, “Morning Birds“, and “Shake It”.
Where to Now reflects Rudd’s ongoing work as a songwriter and performer, with themes of connection, nature, and personal reflection.
Georgia Mulligan – Unheaven
Georgia Mulligan’s second album is a body of work that holds the listener close. Touching on themes of loss, estrangement, fear and the many faces of love, the new album is a celebration of resilience which emerged at the intersection of daily life and creative practice.
Sonically, the record is a graceful blend of styles and sounds, encompassing indie rock, folk and pop, weaving them effortlessly together with Georgia’s bewitching vocals and powerful command of language.
