Friday, August 28, 2026

Friday Flash(back) - Kate Miller-Heidke - The Kiss and the Abyss

The Kiss and the Abyss is the sixth studio album by tKate Miller-Heidke. Upon release, Miller-Heidke told The Music, "The main guiding principle for these songs was gothic folk. I grew up loving folk music, obviously, and that's how I became a songwriter. My early stuff is all pretty folky, but I think what I love about the gothic element is that it allows me to make folk music theatrical, more experimental and expansive – even a little weirder than traditional folk music, too."

Kate Melina Miller-Heidke, although classically trained, she has generally followed a career in alternative pop music. 

She signed to Sony Australia, Epic in the US and RCA in the UK, but since 2014 has been an independent artist.

Four of her solo studio albums have peaked in the top 10 of the ARIA Albums Chart, Curiouser (October 2008), Nightflight (April 2012), O Vertigo! (March 2014) and Child in Reverse (October 2020). Her most popular single, The Last Day on Earth (July 2009), reached No. 3 on the ARIA Singles Chart after being used in promos for TV soap, Neighbours, earlier in that year. 

At the ARIA Music Awards, Miller-Heidke has been nominated 17 times.

Kate represented Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv, Israel, with her song, Zero Gravity.

Miller-Heidke is the only person to have sung at Coachella, the New York Metropolitan Opera, and Eurovision. She has also won five Helpmann Awards.

Is there anything she can't do? Who will be the next Friday Flash(back)? Return next week to find out. No spoilers this week.



Friday, August 21, 2026

Friday Flash(back) - DMA's - DMA's

DMA's just dropped their fifth self-titled studio album. The album is the band's first to be released via Wonderlick Entertainment partnering with Sony and RCA UK following a signed global deal.

The group will promote the album with acoustic in-store shows across the United Kingdom during the week of release. The album landed after multiple singles were released. My Baby's Place was released on 20 March as the album's lead single. It is the band’s first fully self-produced single.

Heatin Park was released alongside the album's announcement on 28 April. With Music Feeds staff writer saying "The new self-titled album marks a fresh chapter for the trio, blending their signature indie anthem sound with some new textures. Heatin Park is already showing off that range, gritty, distorted and stadium-sized – a sharp left turn from the dreamy vibes of My Baby’s Place.

Hurricane was released on 5 June as the album's third single, with a Music Talkers review saying [it] feels instantly familiar while still exploring new territory. It is classic DMA's in spirit, but with fresh textures that help the song stand apart from previous releases.

Killing Time was the final single released on 3 July, ahead of the albums release. 

DMA's are an iconic, Australian rock band forming back in 2012 in Sydney.

The band is composed of lead vocalist Tommy O'Dell, lead guitarist Matt Mason, and rhythm guitarist Johnny Took. They originally gained popularity for their debut single Delete and for their self-titled EP, which were both released in 2014. A long time ago now if you think about it.

The band have since gone on to release five studio albums: Hills End (2016), For Now (2018), The Glow (2020), How Many Dreams? (2023), and the below self titled release. 

Their four previous albums have peaked within the top 10 of the ARIA Albums Chart, with the latter two also reaching the top five in the UK and Scotland.

Next week it's former Voice and Eurovision queen, Kate Miller-Heidke. Flashback to her Sunday Spotlight in 2019.