STACK #254 December 2025

MUSIC FEATURE

visit jbhifi.com.au/stack

GHOST IN THE MACHINE

On her fourth album, Australia’s Alison Wonderland takes us on a terrific trip to Ghost World .

CHART FACT

A lison Wonderland is one of Australia’s most successful electronic exports. The Sydney artist has topped the US dance charts and performed as a DJ at Coachella. But despite her success, the

you’re on that search, there is a place of refuge here for you, with us, in Ghost World .” Preceded by the singles Get Started, Again? F-ck, iwannaliveinadream,

Alison Wonderland’s first three albums have all hit the Australian Top 10. And her first two albums – 2015’s Run and 2018’s Awake – topped the US dance charts.

singer, producer, and DJ has documented her personal struggles on her eagerly awaited fourth album, Ghost World . “I often feel like I’m wandering this earth trying to find my home, both artistically and

Psycho, and XTC , Alison says the record is “the truest I have felt to my sound in a very long time”. XTC is a “collaboration” with Whyte Fang. Who is Whyte Fang? Well, it’s Alison Wonderland’s alter ego, who released her own album, Genesis , in 2023. “This was the only song

Photo credit: simplyyyg

Alison Wonderland

Ghost World by Alison Wonderland is out Dec 5 via EMI

Alison Wonderland’s real name is Alexandra Sholler. Her stage name was, of course, inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland . THE NAME GAME

AWARD WATCH Alison Wonderland has been nominated for four ARIA Awards. And in 2022, she won ‘Female Artist of the Year’ at the Electronic Dance Music Awards.

personally,” Alison said when she announced the album. “Sometimes it feels like the search will never end.” She dedicates the album to “anyone out there who doesn’t know where they fit in”. “I want people to know that while

on the album that I was forced to collab with someone I didn’t like,” she quips. “It was one of the worst creative experiences of my life.” Jeff Jenkins

CHART FACT

W hen America’s Olivia Rodrigo played at England’s biggest festival, Glastonbury, this year she sent the critics into raptures. OLIVIA LIVE! “Rodrigo totally steals the entire festival,” declared The Guardian in a five-star review. “It also feels like more of an Olivia Rodrigo duets withThe Cure’s Robert Smith on her first live album.

Olivia Rodrigo’s two studio albums –

2021’s Sour and 2023’s

Guts – both hit number one in Australia, the US and UK.

she introduced a special guest – “perhaps the best songwriter to come out of England, a Glastonbury legend and personal hero of mine” – The Cure’s Robert Smith. As the crowd went wild, the duo performed stunning versions of The Cure’s Friday I’m in Love and Just Like Heaven . Rodrigo first saw The Cure live in 2023 – when her dad took her to see them. “He’s introducing me to all the bands he went to see when he was my age,” Rodrigo revealed. Rodrigo released the two Cure covers as a single, with proceeds going to the charity Doctors Without Borders. Jeff Jenkins

event than any other big set this year. As it ends with fireworks, you get the distinct feeling that, at 22, a teen pop star might have unexpectedly, but deservedly, stolen the show.” Rodrigo’s live set is now being released as her first live album, Live from Glastonbury (A BBC Recording) . As well as performing her smash hits Drivers License, Vampire, Deja Vu, Good 4 U and Traitor , Rodrigo surprised the crowd when

Olivia Rodrigo

Live from Glastonbury (A BBC Recording) by Olivia Rodrigo is out Dec 5 via Universal

FESTIVAL FACT

This was not Olivia Rodrigo’s first Glastonbury appearance. In 2022, aged just 19, Rodrigo was joined onstage by Lily Allen as they performed Allen’s F-ck You .

Photo credit: Nick Walker

52 DECEMBER 2025

jbhifi.com.au