Volume #3 | A playlist for when you’re on the tools, an album for when you need a good cry, Super Bowl '25 headliner announced.
Mixtape. My melodic brain dump.
I feel like, the music sounds better with you. ♫
Greetings Mixers and welcome to my new subscribers. Thank you for being here - I really mean that. Everyone is time poor, and gifting yourself five minutes to learn about a new song or save a playlist for your next commute is the kind of escape I’m prepared to create for you (and me!)
I’m a stay-at-home Mum, so usually things like meal planning take priority. Today, I still don’t know what we’re having for dinner because I’m so deeply entrenched in writing. Food can wait. Keeping it real, my little ones ate cereal for dinner on the day Volume #2 was published. If you’re a parent, you’d understand that breakfast food is also an acceptable meal for nighttime on a day where the mental load of feeding a family did not get a look in.
“Mummy, what are you writing about?”
“I’ll show you one day sweety. Now, finish your Rice Bubbles and then you can watch Bluey.”
That’s my daughter. She’s seven and tells me she loves Taylor Swift’s songs (doesn’t everyone?) I can't help but wonder if Taylor Swift's music will become for this generation what the Spice Girls' albums were for ours—only on a much grander, more explosive scale. But I also hear her singing along to tunes which sound vastly different to Tay Tay. Sitting in the back seat of the car, she will belt out Evil Like Me which is a musical theatre number sung by the incomparable Kristin Chenoweth for the movie Descendants. What will my little one’s taste in music look like? Time will tell, and I’m here for it.
If my daughter is anything like me (not evil in the slightest), she’s at an influential age. Readers of Volume #2, you’ll know exactly what I’m referring to. The seven-year-old snoop!
What have I got for you today…
A nostalgic 90’s playlist perfect for pottering around the house
A song that’s got my soul
My thoughts on Missy Higgins new album *grab the tissues*
Observations of the weird yet cool productions from Keli Holiday.
Playlist Pause |
100% Hits, The Best of 1992
Length: 1hr
When To Listen: You’re on the tools, pottering around in the shed, fixing your bike in the workshop, driving the ute, washing the car, watering the garden, cleaning the pool.
What To Expect: You’ll be whistling along in no time. It has a bit of everything, all chart toppers from 1992. I refuse to acknowledge that these songs are 32 years old! Prince, Billy Ray Cyrus, Diesel, U2, Salt-N-Pepa and The 12th Man.
The Memories: This compilation is one of my earliest memories of cassette tapes, thanks Mum & Dad! It was well-loved. Do any of these songs prompt memories for you? Let me know in the comments. I learn’t how to spell M-A-R-V-E-L-L-O-U-S thanks to The 12th Man.
Note: Two songs can’t be found on Spotify, below are the exact YouTube versions instead.
It’s A Hit |
Fresh from Sydney, Australia. This one is a keeper.
Artist: Don West
Genre: Alternative / Indie
Song: Friends
Sounds Like: Sexy, soul music. Low key. Adding this to my Bubble Bath Mixtape. Reminds me of my favourite South Australian band from the late 2000’s, Lowrider (miss you guys!) who funnily enough also had a single titled Friend.
Album Spotlight | The Second Act, Missy Higgins
Artist: Missy Higgins
Genre: Pop
Play It When: You need a good cry, you’re in the shower, you’re blissfully alone, you’re taking a gentle walk or when you need a quiet re-set.
Feels Like: Heartache. Relationship Grief. A peak into her personal life that for some will be very relatable. This is as raw and vulnerable as songwriting gets.
Sounds Like: Therapy, offering gentle yet powerful truth bombs. A reflection of difficult, unplanned, real-life experiences, wrapped up in typical emotive piano ballads we’ve always adored from Missy Higgins. She recorded this album live. We are treated to her delicate falsetto, a standout characteristic of this emotional record.
Top Track: A Complicated Truth. The chords remind me of Sugarcane from her second album. I’ve seen her sing this live and I was in tears! Stunning songwriting. The sibling track to Song For Sammy.
Surprise Fact: Missy Higgins was diagnosed with depression when she was at boarding school, after admitting she wasn’t feeling like herself. At the time, this created an opportunity for her father to share that he too had suffered from the disease all his life. This moment sparks an awakening of self-awareness. From then on, she intentionally leans into being open and honest through music, where songwriting is her therapy.
In Case You Haven’t Heard |
Keli Holiday / Peking Duk - what the f***? Australian musician Keli Holiday, AKA Adam Hyde and one half of Peking Duk (they have many alter egos, keep up if you can) is pushing boundaries, hosting raves in Bunnings warehouses and dropping tracks with unexpected *shirtless* TV personalities like Karl Stefanovic as a dedication to their bromance. I don’t know if it’s my obsession with Abbie Chatfield steering me in this direction (girlfriend to Adam Hyde), but holy smokes they are HOT right now! Doing things their own way. It’s real weird and I like it.
Kendrick Lamar will headline the Super Bowl Halftime Show in 2025. Are you a fan? I think it’s always worth watching purely to see how they spent the budget - cha ching!
Any Halsey fans out there? She’s released a new single titled Ego, how pure is her vocal?! Gives me goosebumps. Reminds me so much of Paramore’s Hayley Williams. I first heard Halsey on the soundtrack for Sing 2 in Could Have Been Me. A fun movie and soundtrack for the whole family.
Next Time on Mixtape…
Exclusive access for paid subscribers (hell yes, I’m diving in) to exciting new things you don’t want to miss. I’m polishing my own curated playlists and they’re really good you guys. Plus, you’ll need something for those upcoming AFL Grand Final festivities (that’s Australian football for my international readers)
My thoughts on the new album from Blink 182
A love song dedication *aww*.
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Absolutely love the Halsey track and I can’t wait to listen to the 1992 playlist! 😍
The best of 92…oh the memories…year 7 disco and sleepovers almost every weekend!