He might not have won last year’s Australian Idol title, but Jake Whittaker has been doing great things since leaving the reality show. Fresh from the release of his track “Trouble With You” last month, he’s booked his first ticketed show in at the Tamworth Country Music Festival and a couple of dates across the ditch.
The Aotearoa/New Zealand shows are especially significant for the Meeanjin/Brisbane-based country singer, who has his family roots in Taranaki. The connection he still feels to this area inspired his 2024 single “Coming Home.”
“This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” Jake said. “I go back all the time, and I’ve always loved New Zealand. To finally play my own shows there means a lot.”
Wherever you’re seeing Jake, you can expect a high-energy show. Tickets for the ticketed gigs are available now through the links:
I absolutely love a quality cover version. I think there’s real skill in reinterpreting someone else’s song and encouraging listeners to hear it in a new way. So I’m really impressed with Bud Rokesky’s stripped back version of Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart.” This gentle guitar and piano arrangement retains some of the moodiness associated with the original but it’s so much more current.
“’Love Will Tear Us Apart’ is one of those songs that never ages,” Bud said. “It’s honest and undeniable. I wanted to strip it back to let it sit heavy between beauty and ruin.”
Bud is easing himself into the New Year, but he is confirmed to play Meatstock at Sydney Showgrounds in Eora/Sydney on May 2.
Image used with permission from Warner Music Australia
While it hasn’t aired on free-to-air TV for a while, I stay up to date with American Idol through YouTube. It’s good to have the local version back on TV, but I wish it championed original compositions the way that the US version does. There are regularly artists I follow years later because their originals have impressed me so much. Thunderstorm Artis is one of those special acts I’ve continued to support after the show wrapped, so I’m pretty stoked to see he’s announced an Aussie tour. And one that includes regional shows no less!
Thunderstorm probably didn’t win Idol because he’s not a “big” performer. He respects a melody, he doesn’t sing a lot of runs. There’s a purity to his performance that it much better suited to the small venues he’s playing on this run than stadiums. I am thrilled I’ll get to see him in places like this. Yes, I’m talking plural because I have a feeling that once I see him at my closest venue, I may be tempted to road trip to another show. We’ll see.
For now, if you’re not already across Thunderstorm’s music you’ve got a couple of months to come up to speed. Start with his American Idol audition song “Don’t Let Me Let You Go” and then let yourself fall down a YouTube rabbit hole. Then follow my lead and jump on some tickets. You don’t want to miss these shows.
Eora/Sydney duo The Admired are coming at you with a nostalgic new emo-pop banger, “Fame&Money.” Its 2000s vibes should get you bopping in your seat, if you can resist taking a full dance break! It’s less than two and a half minutes of musical goodness.
Frontwoman Bianca Davino said “Fame&Money” is “the spark that really kicked off our direction for The Admired,” so if you’re not already on board with their music it’s a great introduction.
Bianca and guitarist Max Jacobson did some serious heavy lifting here, writing, performing, producing, and engineering the track in their home studio. Nat Sherwood (BESTIES, Stand Atlantic, Yours Truly) took care of mastering duties.
“Fame&Money” is the last of three tracks that make up The Admired’s mini-EP, appropriately titled 3 songs. They plan to build on their sound and record a new EP this year.
AYDAN is one of those artists who just seems to get better and better over time. He made it all the way to the final on the seventh season of The Voice Australia and while I appreciated his charisma, I wasn’t convinced he had that special sauce that would see him break the reality show curse. Then I saw him in Jagged Little Pill several years later and I became a convert. Now he’s wowed me all over again with his latest original single, “Gabriella.” This feelgood banger is inspired by a fleeting connection AYDAN made with a girl at a Silk Sonic show in Las Vegas.
“I met this girl sitting in front of me,” AYDAN recalled. “After that night, I never saw her again. She went back to Minnesota, I went back to Australia, and that was that. It leans on a movie-like one-night romance – youthful, spontaneous, romantic, adventurous, and fun. That spark of connection that only lasted a moment, but stays with you forever.”
There’s more new music on the way from AYDAN, who’ll release his debut EP later this year.
Pierce Brothers are really some of Australia’s quiet achievers. Every album they release is so solid, with back-to-back alt-folk bangers. They hit the top of the charts, but there’s never a lot of fanfare leading up to the releases and ARIA and the other awards bodies never seem to acknowledge the work. Radio doesn’t play them. They perform across Europe, the United Kingdom, North and South America, and Australia, but most people I speak to don’t know them. If you’re yet to discover Pierce Brothers, might I suggest pressing play on their latest album, Moonrise? It’s so fantastic. It’s the band’s fourth studio album, so once you’re hooked there’s plenty to explore.
“I’m so stoked to have this album out in the world!” Jacks said about the recent release of Moonrise. “We worked hard all year in between heavy touring to get this over the line, and it was a monumental effort from everyone involved! Some of the tracks on this album are some of the proudest I’ve been in songwriting, storytelling and production! … And some of those tracks absolutely go off live! Can’t wait to touring them globally in 2026!”
Pierce Brothers are currently playing shows in Europe and the United Kingdom, but they’ll be back on Aussie shores this March for some festivals and headlining shows. The siblings are known for their engaging high-energy sets, and after so long on the road they’re bound to be in fine form. Wherever you are, don’t go sleeping on this one. I am kicking myself for making holiday plans when they’re in my part of the country, but I don’t want you to miss out! Tickets for all shows are available now from the links.
In the 2010s, fantastic songs like “Ivy” and “Afterthought” put Eora/Sydney act Winters End on my radar. However, in 2020 they disappeared from view when founding member Christopher Pinto passed away suddenly from a head injury. After several years of grief and soul searching, his sister and collaborator Marissa Pinto has decided to continue Winters End in her brother’s memory. The new single “Deadtree” is a heartbreaking tribute to Christopher. Marissa’s voice has always captivated me, but I’ve never been quite so moved by it as I am listening to this song.
The recording sees Marissa reuniting with Winters End’s longtime producer Lachlan Mitchell, known for his work with The Whitlams and The Jezabels. It was recorded at Parliament Studios and mastered at Studios 301 by Steve Smart.
Winters End will support Ocean Wizard at Wombat Brewery in Yuin Country/Ulladulla on January 17 before a hometown headliner show at Oxford Art Factory on January 24 to promote the release of “Deadtree.”
If you like your pop music with edge, you’ll appreciate “Sidelines,” the latest track from Naarm/Melbourne chanteuse CARDAMONE. She gives a stellar vocal performance on this brooding track which explores the idea that in the aftermath of a relationship, things aren’t always as they seem.
“Sidelines is about acting like everything is great when it isn’t,” CARDAMONE said. “He thinks I’m living it up, but underneath I’m a mess.”
CARDAMONE has performed at some of her hometown’s best local venues including The Toff in Town, Birds Basement, and the Evelyn. Follow her on Instagram to learn where she’ll pop up next.
Rubibi/Broome-based artist Amy Pania is laying her heart bare under a brand new musical moniker, Amyrah. She admits her latest single “Inside Out” is the “rawest” track she’s ever released.
“I wrote it at the bottom of an emotional pit, struggling with my mental health and these cycles of anger that left me seeing red, but creating the song became the moment I finally climbed out,” she said.
Amy’s voice is gorgeous, soulful and brimming with emotion. And I love when artists aren’t afraid to be vulnerable and so authentically themselves. This is pop music that matters. I can’t wait to hear from Amyrah this year.
Image used with permission from Blue Music Services
Last year I felt division within Australia in a way I’ve never felt before. I happened to catch a train full of people heading to Eora/Sydney for an anti-immigration march. It was packed with white retirees holding flags sounding off about migrants taking over their country. I watched in horror as one man said loudly that he should have worn his steel-capped boots as an Asian woman apologised while trying to make her way through the crowd and get off the train. That same night an Asian man wearing a Make America Great Again cap asked me whether I had a problem with him. Of course I said no, swiftly looked down, but wondered what would have happened if I’d answered in the affirmative. A couple of months later, I found myself sitting in a crowded park during a local seafood festival, trying to enjoy my fish and chips, when more white Boomers began sounding off about immigration. Then of course there was the terrorist attack in Bondi, a frightening reminder that hatred against people based on they are can turn deadly.
I’m naïve enough to think that the tragedy at Bondi and the acts of brave Aussies like Ahmed al-Ahmed may help remind us that we are one community and that our differences make us stronger. I’m also naïve enough to think music can make a difference. So in that spirit, I wanted to post about “Our Land” by Colin Lillie, a Scottish immigrant living in Mparntwe/Alice Springs who’s pretty proud to call Australia home. He’s joined by diverse contributors who played their parts from all parts of the country: Norman Daymarringu, Liam Jangala Price, Xueyan Chen, Gretta Ziller, Pete Denahy, Brad Bergen, Wayne Davis, and the stunning Austranesia Choir from Cairns.
“Its refrain, ‘We belong to this land,’ captures the essence of those who’ve come from all corners of the world to call Australia home”, Colin said. “The song is both personal and universal – a declaration of love for a country that welcomes, unites and inspires.”
Wayne Davis of Treetop Media shot the gorgeous video to highlight the contributions Colin’s collaborators and the parts of Australia they call home. He also made a feature-length documentary which follows Colin’s journey across the country meeting elders, artists, and everyday Aussies, which will be released later this year. After the 2025 we’ve just had, art like this which celebrates togetherness is exactly the sort of thing I want to champion in 2026.
