Take 5

This is one of the best bits from Take 5.

Emily Wurramara had a remarkable year in 2024. She won an ARIA, was nominated for Double J Artist of the Year, and she toured all over the country. 

Emily joined Zan Rowe to Take 5 on the same day her second album NARA was released and the energy in the studio was pumping. It’s very much a record of renewal, and one of Double J's 50 Best Albums of 2024.

• Brandy – ‘Sittin' Up In My Room’

Listen to the full episode here: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/take-5/emily-wurramara-take-5-songs-of-renewal/104257048

Fontaines D.C. are in a real purple patch. Over the last few years, they’ve become one of the most compelling bands around, and their latest album Romance topped our list at Double J of the 50 Best Albums of 2024.

Back in 2023, lead singer Grian joined Zan to Take 5. He doesn’t do a whole lot of interviews, but he really embraced this one. Maybe because it was all about poetry, which is the very foundations of Fontaines DC.

• Sinéad O'Connor – Troy 

Listen to the full episode here: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/take-5/double-j-zan-rowe-take-5-fontaines-dc-verse/101926856

2024 was a massive year for Take 5.

We reached all over the world to chat with extraordinary people about the music that's shaped their lives.

Some of the best moments from Take 5 in 2024 include (but are not limited to!): 

Beth Ditto's triumphant return with a new Gossip album, Bill Bailey's take on the future of humanity and Artificial Intelligence, Angie McMahon's stand-out year, DOBBY's brilliant debut record, and in a true bucket-list moment, Zan welcomed the legendary Laurie Anderson to Take 5.

• Beth Ditto: Bikini Kill – 'Rebel Girl'
• Bill Bailey: Johnny Cash – ‘Hurt’
• Angie McMahon: Joni Mitchell - 'Circle Game [Live at Universal Amphitheater, Los Angeles 1974]'
• DOBBY: No Fixed Address - 'We Have Survived'
• Laurie Anderson: Lou Reed – 'Magic And Loss (The Summation)'

Watch Take 5 on ABC iview: https://iview.abc.net.au/show/take-5-with-zan-rowe

We’re winding out 2024 with a beautiful Take 5. 

Jamie xx is one of my favourite producers, so it’s really special to cap off what’s been a big year, with the man himself. Looking back the last couple of years, the final Take 5 has been really reflective. Caroline Polachek was poetic at the end of a huge 2023, and he year before Jon Hopkins gifted us a transcendent set of songs. All three artists came to that conversation at the top of their game, but with a wisdom and calm that comes with age, with experience, and freedom.

For Jamie, I asked him to choose songs of surrender. He embraced the theme and then some, and his songs confirmed why music is such a beautiful language for him. From vintage surf movies, to legendary Brazilian music, deep house cuts and Jonathan Richman, this is a beautiful meditation on life, and a life in sound.

• G. Wayne Thomas – Morning of the Earth 
• Phillip Glass – The Grid 
• Milton Nascimento – Um Gosto De Sol 
• Marshall Jefferson vs. Noosa Heads – Mushrooms (Justin Martin remix) 
• Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers – The Morning Of Our Lives 

Katie Crutchfield has been making music as Waxahatchee for almost 15 years. In the early days she self-released on cassette, lo-fi indie music that would blossom into Americana around a decade later. That foray, with her acclaimed album Saint Cloud, brought her a whole new audience. But she has always been a brilliant songwriter. 

Katie doesn’t waste a word, which is why I love chatting with her about songs. And why I asked her to Take 5. From classic country to the heavenly voice of Michael Stipe, let Waxahatchee take you into her record collection and foundations.

• Rilo Kiley – Portions For Foxes
• Trisha Yearwood – She’s In Love With The Boy
• Fleetwood Mac – Landslide
• R.E.M. – Sweetness Follows
• Lady Wray – Guilty

10 years ago, a fellow called Nick Murphy put out his debut album. The Melbournian traded on the name Chet Faker, buzz was building, but when Built on Glass was released, no one knew how big it would become.

There aren’t many Australian bands who have sold 23 million copies of their albums. 

Cast your mind back to the late 90’s, and a duo from Brisbane called Savage Garden. 

Darren Hayes was the angel-voiced frontman, and after putting out two hugely successful albums he went solo. Now many years later he’s published a memoir titled Unlovable, and the story of his life as a little kid growing up in the South Brisbane suburbs, to becoming a worldwide pop star, and finally coming out, is one we’ve never heard like this before.

• Diana Ross - 'Reach Out And Touch (Somebody's Hand)'
• Peter Gabriel - 'Love To Be Loved'
• Madonna - 'Mother And Father'
• Taylor Swift - 'exile [Ft. Bon Iver]'
• George Michael - 'Jesus To A Child'

There are parts of this conversation that explore Darren’s experiences with family violence. It’s a big part of his story, so please be warned. And if you need support, here are some resources who provide it:

• 1800 Respect National Helpline on 1800 737 732
• Lifeline on 131 114
• Men's Referral Service on 1300 766 491
• Mensline on 1300 789 978
• Full Stop Australia on 1800 385 578
• Emergency services on triple-0 if you need immediate care

It’s hard to believe that 20 years ago Casey Donovan won Australian Idol. Just 16 years old, she was thrust into the spotlight and every high and low was captured for all to see. She took away the main prize, but in the years following would be working as a medical receptionist and a rideshare driver to pay the bills.

Casey threw her hat back in the reality show ring with I’m a Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here, and won again. And in the past few years, she’s had a kind of second life starring in hit musicals across the country.

Through it all, her powerhouse voice and grounded nature has endeared her to millions of Australians. For me, watching her belt out huge songs every New Years Eve proves she’s unparalleled. In music and life, Casey can take just about anything thrown at her.

But what is the music she retreats to, when she needs it most? This is a beautiful conversation with a resilient Queen, and the stories that led her here.

• Mr. Big - 'To Be With You'
• Maggie Rogers - 'Light On'
• Allen Stone - 'Bed I Made'
• Maddie Zahm - 'You Might Not Like Her'
• James Bay - 'One Life'

Watch Take 5 on ABC iview: https://iview.abc.net.au/show/take-5-with-zan-rowe

Bernard Fanning is no stranger to the limelight. With Powderfinger he sold millions of albums and rocked out to stadiums of adoring fans.

Then he stripped it back as a solo artist and went Number 1 again. Bernard holds the record for the most amount of Hottest 100 number 1’s, he is adored by generations of Australians, and is one of the most enjoyable people to chat music with.

Bernard’s new project with Paul Dempsey proves he’s still compelled to create music, and with all of this history, we sat down in Melbourne’s legendary Bakehouse Studios to Take 5.

Interestingly, Bernard came up with his own theme for this one; he was super keen to explore the world’s of vulnerability and bravado. And from Bowie to Nina Simone, AC/DC to Bob Dylan, we unpacked a whole lot more. Settle in for this special extended cut of Bernard Fanning's Take 5.

• AC/DC – ‘Jailbreak’
• David Bowie – ‘Sound And Vision’
• Nina Simone – 'I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free’
• Prince – ‘1999’
• Bob Dylan – ‘Most Of The Time’ 

Watch Take 5 on ABC iview: https://iview.abc.net.au/show/take-5-with-zan-rowe

Neil Finn is one of our greatest living songwriters. In Split Enz and Crowded House, solo and in his collaborations, his tunes have become the soundtrack to our lives. 

I’ve been chasing Neil to Take 5 for the TV series since the beginning, and finally he said yes. Even better, he invited us to film at his own studios. Roundhead, a pale green building on an Auckland street that has seen some incredible music history go down.

Bunker down in the basement of Roundhead, as Neil Finn shares the DNA of his songwriting heart, and the music that soars for him.

• David Bowie – ‘Quicksand’
• Ludwig van Beethoven – Piano Sonata No.8 “Pathétique” in C minor, Op. 13, 2nd Movement: Adagio cantabile (performed by Arthur Rubinstein)
• Split Enz – ‘Time for a Change’
• The Beatles – ‘Across the Universe’
• Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong – ‘Summertime’

Watch Take 5 on ABC iview: https://iview.abc.net.au/show/take-5-with-zan-rowe