Take 5

Dan Sultan is one of Australia's finest voices. Over the past two decades, he's dabbled in rock, country, soul, even a kids album. But it's on his most recent record, Little Miracles, that he feels like he's finally closer to reaching his full potential. It's a heartfelt expression of self, expansive and epic, full of strings, gospel, and pure sunshine.

The album came together in an improbable burst of creativity with legendary songwriter and producer Guy Chambers, (the man behind some of Robbie Williams' biggest hits), and was written and recorded in just 12 days. The title came...

The Presets are Australian electronic music royalty.

From their beginnings as classically trained percussion students at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music to their breakthrough as synth-wielding dancefloor destroyers, Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes have spent three decades making music that refuses to sit still. Their 2008 album Apocalypso made them the first electronic act to win the ARIA for Album of the Year, and singles like "My People" became anthems for a generation.

Before The Presets, there was Prop: a minimalist percussion ensemble blending Steve Reich with spacey synths. The transformation from that to "caveman synth...

Legendary Brisbane band Powderfinger broke the internet when they announced a long-awaited reunion tour.

The band sold out 26 shows across the country, and today announced extra shows, new cities, and an epic line-up of all-Australian support acts.

Joining them on the road next year will be bands like Violent Soho, Thelma Plum, Ball Park Music, You Am I, Something For Kate, The Living End, John Butler Trio, Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers + more.

Bernard Fanning and Darren Middleton joined Zan Rowe to talk about what prompted the reunion, and how they feel...

Take 5 is turning 20!

It started back in 2006 as a weekly radio segment on triple j, and since then it's grown into an award-winning podcast, and a beloved TV show in its sixth season.

The list of people who have graced the Take 5 is epic: Lorde, Jack Antonoff, Kevin Bacon, Paul Kelly, Mel C from the Spice Girls, Bernard Fanning, there's even been a Beatle (Sir Paul McCartney!).

To mark this special 20th anniversary, Zan Rowe has dug into some old shoe boxes and dusted off minidiscs and DAT tapes to bring to you...

Pia Miranda is joy personified.

From her first TV gig on Neighbours, where her character Karen dated Toadie and made a dramatic final exit from the show holding a pavlova, to her breakthrough turn as Josie in Looking for Alibrandi, she has been one of Australia's most beloved screen actors for 25 years. But it's her second act that's surprised everyone, including herself: winning Australian Survivor in a unanimous vote, singing in a thong costume (the footwear kind) on The Masked Singer, and now co-hosting ABC TV's Recipe of the Year.

Growing up Irish-Italian Australian in...

Take 5 is celebrating 20 years, and we're marking the milestone with something special.

Zan Rowe is bringing the show to record stores around the country for four intimate, live conversations with some of Australia's most loved artists:

Each guest takes on a theme and chooses five songs that speak to it, and what unfolds is always unexpected.

All four live Take 5s will drop right here on the pod throughout November as part of Aus Music Month.

PLUS: before those live shows, we've got a couple of...

Vika and Linda Bull are national treasures.

From their early days singing backing vocals with Joe Camilleri and The Black Sorrows to breaking out on their own with acclaimed records, they're part of the very fabric of Australian music, and they do it all in harmony. Their voices have soundtracked decades of Australian life, but it's the story behind those voices that makes them extraordinary.

Growing up in the Melbourne suburb of Doncaster, they lived between two worlds: ordinary suburban school life during the week, and the rich, Tongan culture of their mother's homeland every...

Genesis Owusu is one of Australia's most thrilling new artists.

Born Kofi Owusu-Ansah, he immigrated to Canberra with his family when he was just two years old. Almost immediately he felt like an odd one out. And he used that feeling to get weird.

20 odd years later, his music, visuals, and storytelling has resonated with millions. He's won the ARIA for Album of the Year twice (first for Smiling with No Teeth in 2021, and then with Struggler in 2023), and leads the nominations again this year for his third album, Redstar Wu & the Worldwide Scourge. All...

Lainey Wilson is a force of nature.

Raised in the tiny farming town of Baskin, Louisiana (population 170) she grew up between corn fields and country radio, where music wasn't a genre but a way of life. From writing her first song at nine years old to hauling a camper trailer to Nashville at 19, her path to becoming one of country music's biggest stars was anything but overnight. It took a decade of hustle, a Hannah Montana wig, and an unshakable belief that if she could just get one opportunity, she could do the rest.

Now...

Jacinda Ardern is a history-maker.

As Prime Minister of New Zealand at 37, she became only the second woman in the world to give birth while in office. But it was her leadership style that defined her time at the top, leading with empathy and kindness in the face of back-to-back tragedies, and showing the strength of coming together.

From growing up in small-town New Zealand singing country and western duets with her sister at the local community hall, to raging to Smashing Pumpkins in her first car with a discman plugged into the cassette deck...

David Byrne is a music icon.

With Talking Heads, or his many wild collaborations, and as an acclaimed solo artist, he's continually pushed the boundaries of sound, crafting some of the most iconic live performances of our time.

Over five decades, he's never stopped asking why. His curiosity has driven an extraordinary creative life that stretches way beyond music: on canvas, in writing, filmmaking, composing musicals. He's even designed bike racks.

From hearing Bob Dylan's mysterious words on a tiny radio and discovering James Brown's interlocking grooves, to forming Talking Heads at the...

When you look back at the Australian artists who've made their mark internationally, Savage Garden are right up there. 

Two guys from Brisbane who went Number 1 around the world, cracked the notoriously tough U.S. market and sold nearly 30 million albums with hits like 'I Want You', 'To The Moon And Back', and 'Truly Madly Deeply'.

 They may have only been together for two albums, but the legacy of their pop breakthrough continues, as does frontman Darren Hayes' incredible story.

While he was sailing the highs of global fame, behind the scenes, Darren was...

Shania Twain holds the record for the biggest selling country album of all time: Come On Over. 

Growing up poor in a Canadian mining town, who could have foreseen that the woman born Eileen Regina Twain would go on to sell over 100 million records, cross country music into pop, and become one of the most recognisable voices on the planet?

Her life has been extraordinary, dotted with hit albums and huge shows, songs known by their opening line worldwide, and fans ranging from country music loyalists to Harry Styles. There've been plenty of lows too, i...

Peter Garrett has been an unstoppable force of Australian music for decades.

As the iconic frontman of Midnight Oil, a grassroots activist, and a former Federal Parliamentarian, he's spent a lifetime driving change: from the pubs of Sydney to the remote outback communities that reshaped the band's sound, from the floor of Parliament to the world's biggest stages. He's never stopped pushing.

But beneath the towering public persona lies something unexpected. When Zan Rowe gave him the theme "Songs of Change," Peter Garrett revealed a softer, surprisingly open side: a man moved to tears by...

Take 5 with Zan Rowe is back on your screens from Thursday August 20, and Season 5 is the biggest yet!

What song makes Peter Garrett cry? 

What was the tune that woke David Byrne up to the full body physicality of music, at Studio 54? 

And who do you think a teenage Jacinda Ardern was blasting, as she hooned around her hometown in New Zealand? 

You’re about to find out, as Take 5 returns for a 5th season on ABC TV and ABC iview. For the last 6 months Zan Rowe has been zipping around Austr...

This is one of the best bits from Take 5.

One of the greatest songwriters of all time sat down with Zan Rowe to open his songbook and dive deep into the making of five of his greatest. 

Paul McCartney has provided the soundtrack to billions of lives. His legacy in song is unparalleled; starting with The Beatles, who changed the game forever, he rolled on with his own solo career while building a new band in Wings, and collaborating with everyone from Stevie Wonder to Johnny Cash and Dave Grohl.

Listen to the f...

This is one of the best bits from Take 5.

Kacey Musgraves is a straight shooter, a woman of conviction. In person and in song, the bridge she creates with her fans is something else, and it’s made her one of the most loved artists around.

For Kacey’s Take 5, Zan wanted to find out about the music that brought her to today, and to borrow a title from her own debut album, helped Kacey “follow her arrow”. 

Listen to the full episode here: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/take-5/kacey-musgraves-take-5-with-zan...

This is one of the best bits from Take 5.

Founding member of Blink-182, Angels and Airwaves, and UFO enthusiast, Tom DeLonge hung out with Zan Rowe back in 2012, while in the country to play Soundwave Festival.

You don't create a career like that without loving music, so Zan dived into the music that changed his life.

Listen to the full episode here: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/take-5/tom-delonge-take-5/9035742

SONGS

This is one of the best bits from Take 5.

In 2024 Emily Wurramara released her second album NARA and cemented herself as a powerful indigenous storyteller. 

The Warnindhilyagwa woman joined Zan Rowe to Take 5 on the same day her second album 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 that year.

Listen back to Emily talking about her love of John Fogerty and Cat Power, during her Take 5 on songs of renewal.

Listen to the...

Poh Ling Yeow has been part of our lives for two decades. As a TV chef, a gourmet stall owner, a celebrity in the jungle, and a cookbook author. Poh is a painter and has even popped up an actor, describing herself as having a greed for life experience.

Poh is currently hosting and judging on the latest series of Masterchef, and this week she's Taking 5. 

Fall into the stories and songs that have shaped who Poh has become.

Poh's song choices:

2026 marks 20 years since Hot Chip released The Warning. Their second album leapt from the quiet, reflective electro of their debut and catapulted us all onto the dancefloor.

To mark the occasion, we share an episode from 2020 when Joe Goddard and Al Doyle dropped in to Take 5. Their theme? Jubilant songs. Their vibes? Pure joy. 

From classic to modern gold to deep cuts, settle in with some "heaters" as Hot Chip Take 5!

Hot Chip's song choices:

This month, Gotye's breakthrough album Like Drawing Blood, turns 20. It was the record that took him from bedroom producer to Hottest 100 favourite, showcasing his incredible talent at sewing sounds. The man behind Gotye, Wally De Backer, has been keeping a low profile for a while. But back in 2007, after a huge year following this album's release, he joined Zan Rowe to Take 5. 

This is one of the very first episodes of Take 5, and the first time it's ever appeared on the podcast.

So jump in the time machine and travel back to this mid 2000's m...

This week marks the 20th anniversary of Tool's huge album 10,000 Days. Back in 2013, Tool were in the country playing massive shows when drummer Danny Carey and bass player Justin Chancellor came into the triple j studios to Take 5 with Zan Rowe.

As we mark the anniversary of Tool's chart topping album, let's time travel back to a Take 5 classic.The theme? Unexpected finds in their music library. The outcome? Unexpected joy from one of music's heaviest bands.

It's Tool time! 

Tool's song choices:

In the fifteen years since Emma Louise wowed us with her debut single 'Jungle', she’s shown all sides of herself, singing her story with vulnerability and reflection.

Last year, Emma released the collaborative album Dumb with producer Flume. But it’s been 8 years since her last solo album, the daring and romantic Lilac Everything. 

This week, she returns with Sunshine for Happiness, an album that was actually recorded in 2019. Emma Louise joined Zan to talk more about the changes in her life between recording and release and to share her song selections in the theme...

35 years ago, we met a band called Smashing Pumpkins. Rising in the wave of American grunge, the Chicago band were led by the iconic voice of Billy Corgan and would rise and rise like all their contemporaries, over the coming years. 

If you know anything about music history, you know the story of the Pumpkins is a tumultuous one. But Billy has continued through it all. 

Back in 2012, Billy was in Australia to play Splendour in the Grass with the latest incarnation of Smashing Pumpkins. With a new album under their belt, he was in a...

Alexei Toliopoulos is a lifelong cinephile. Known for his excellent podcasts including The Last Video Store, he’s a writer, comedian, filmmaker and loves talking about the movies that made us who we are today. The way he speaks about cinema invites everyone into the conversation. But what are the songs that soundtrack his life? And why?

Dig into a joyful convo that will have you curating a playlist of songs and movies, for your weekend.

Alexei Toliopoulos' song choices:

Thirty years ago the world met Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. Their debut album Revival introduced us to two incredible storytellers, singers and guitarists, and in the three decades since they’ve swept us away in song.

It's long been on my bucket list to have them Take 5, and finally here it is. When thinking on a theme, I landed on time. Time, and their ruminations on time, have always swirled in their songs. They love old-time music, and take their time in getting your own songs right. How they responded to the theme, is one for the...

Are you ready for some incredible stories? Take 5 always gifts us with some cracking yarns, but this week’s episode takes the cake. In fact, I’ve had more responses to Ed Le Brocq’s Take 5 than any other, in ages.

Ed used to be Eddie Ayers, a legendary ABC Classic FM broadcaster who has shared his life of adventure with us over the past two decades. Ed is a cellist, viola, and violin player, and has gifted his talents to others; teaching school kids in Afghanistan, and playing for Uyghurs in the remote deserts of China.

W...

Where do you begin with Tim Rogers? For more than 30 years he has been the soundtrack to our lives. As frontman for You Am I, an acclaimed solo artist and keen collaborator, an actor, author and once even a Double J broadcaster.

He's made a living in more ways than one, and his approach to living has shifted over the years. A long time coming, I invited Tim to Take 5 and explore this idea of a living; what makes a good life, and what it means to be alive. 

And he didn't disappoint.

T...

Comedian Lizzy Hoo has been everywhere the past few years. When she’s not doing stand up, she’s popping up on Have You Been Paying Attention?, and hosting her own podcast The Lizzy Hoo Show.

Lizzy has made travel shows, and is even the voice of an airline. She's one of those people who says YES to life. 

She also has also got a razor sharp wit, and more than a few adventurous tales which is why I invited her to Take 5. 

I didn't realise it'd become a beautiful lesson in how to liv...

Sophie Ellis-Bextor knows how to fill a dancefloor. Across 8 albums, and a double indemnity hit in "Murder on the Dancefloor", she's made a name for herself as a pop-disco queen. When she’s not on stage or in a recording studio, Sophie is throwing a kitchen disco, hosting her Spinning Plates podcast, and publishing books.

Sophie’s latest album Perimenopop takes stock of where she is today. The lessons learned, the way love evolves, and the place she finds herself. It's through-line is liberation, so I asked her to choose her favourite songs of freedom.

Soph...

From bucket list guests to Australian rock royalty and a disco queen, find out who Zan will be Taking 5 with in 2026.

Zan lets you know what's in store for 2026...

It's been a stratospheric rise for comedian, Aaron Chen.

Getting his start in stand-up, he won a heap of fans starring in Fisk, and his charming stint on Taskmaster.

But at the top of his game, he left Australia to start again in New York City.

For his Take 5, Aaron shared one song from a pivotal time in his comedy career.

This is one of the Best Bits from Take 5. 

You can hear the full episode here:

https://www.abc.net.au/lis...

If you grew up in Australia in the 1980s then you probably grew up with Young Talent Time.

It was a springboard for so much talent, and one of its biggest stars was Dannii Minogue.

For her Take 5, Dannii shared the one song she loves the most from her sister Kylie Minogue's epic catalogue.

This is one of the Best Bits from Take 5. 

You can hear the full episode here:

https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/take-5/dannii-minogue-take-5-catalyst-songs/104419298

Watch Take 5 on ABC...

What do Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey and Kendrick Lamar have in common? 

Jack Antonoff.

The decorated producer has made a name for himself shaping some of the biggest albums in the world. 

For his Take 5, Jack Antonoff shared how he brings an artist's vision to life.

This is one of the Best Bits from Take 5. 

You can hear the full episode here: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/take-5/jack-antonoff-take-5-turning-points/103591368

Irish artist CMAT has got it all: the voice, the songwriting talent, the charm.

Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, (aka CMAT), has been shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize and counts Elton John as a fan. 

Her Euro-Country songs capture heartbreak with a healthy dose of humour, which is why she gravitated towards country music in the first place. 

This is one of the Best Bits from Take 5. 

You can hear the full episode here: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/take-5/cm...

Savage Garden frontman Darren Hayes has lived quite the life.

Hitting Number 1 around the world in 1997 with their debut album, he recently shared what was going on behind the scenes at that time, in his beautiful and devastating memoir, Unlovable.

When he joined Zan Rowe to Take 5 back in 2024, he shared a whole new side of one of Australia's biggest stars.

This is one of the Best Bits from Take 5. 

You can hear the full episode here: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/t...

Angie McMahon is the kind of songwriter who stops you in your tracks.

With two albums under her belt, her most recent record Light, Dark, Light Again is about cycles and the patterns that repeat and renew throughout life.

This concept of cycles inspired Angie's Take 5 theme of 'revolution songs' and she responded to it beautifully.

This is one of the Best Bits from Take 5. 

You can hear the full episode here: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/take-5/a...

It's not definitive, but here are some of the best moments from Take 5 this year:

The legendary Richard Fidler threw back to the early days of the Doug Anthony All Stars.

Gordi's brilliant third album Like Plasticine gave us an insight into her experience as a doctor on the frontline during the pandemic.

Comedians Matt Okine and Denise Scott celebrated Season 2 of their much-loved TV show Mother and Son.

Lorde made a triumphant return with her fourth album Virgin.

And best-selling author Trent Dalton (Boy Swallows Universe, Gravity Let...