The emotional EP was recorded during Matt Corby’s first television appearance in 19 years.
Matt Corby’s ‘Live From Sydney ABC NYE 2025’(Credit: Ruby Boland)
Matt Corby
Matt Corby has surprised fans with the release of an emotional new EP, Live From Sydney ABC NYE 2025.
The EP captures the Australian singer’s poignant performance during ABC’s annual New Year’s Eve concert celebrations, recorded on 31 December 2025 from the Northern Boardwalk at the Sydney Opera House.
Corby’s performance was widely regarded as one of the evening’s standout moments. He took to the stage, backed by the ABC band, to an engaged audience.
The EP features fan-favourite tracks he performed throughout the night, including Resolution, Brother, and Miracle Love, as well as his moving rendition of the INXS classic, Never Tear Us Apart, and a delightful cover of Olivia Dean’s Man I Need.
Funnily enough, both of those songs recently topped a triple j Hottest 100 countdown: the former landed at #1 on the Hottest 100 of Australian Songs, and the latter took the Hottest 100 of 2025.
In a statement posted on Instagram, Corby detailed the background behind the performance, opening up about his first appearance on live television in 19 years—a decision he’s made thus far by design.
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“I have always turned down these kinds of opportunities mostly out of fear,” he wrote. “After finishing Australian Idol in 2007, I swore to myself I would never put myself in that position again. I couldn’t really handle the negativity and ridicule. And as a 16-year-old, it was hard not to take those things on and be extremely affected by them.”
But, whatever his reservations towards appearing on television, Corby put them aside for the ABC NYE event.
“I’m really stoked to be releasing the recordings of the ABC NYE show I was a part of,” he said in a press release. “ABC put together a beautiful night of music, and I was honoured they asked me to perform a beautiful rendition of INXS ‘never tear us apart’ to honour the victims of the recent tragic events in Bondi.
“I lived and worked in Bondi as a young man and was incredibly shaken by the shootings there. To me, there was a lot of weight behind what the song was representing on this occasion, and I was having difficulty controlling my emotions through the performance (on top of being incredibly nervous). I hope I did it enough justice.”
The event, hosted by Zan Rowe and Charlie Pickering, drew more than 4.6 million viewers nationwide. Rowe said of Corby’s performance, “Matt’s special set on New Year’s Eve is a moment I won’t soon forget.
“Beginning with his heartfelt and unifying performance of Never Tear Us Apart, his voice soared across the harbour and soothed us all. A Resolution, a cover of the biggest song of the year, everything was in its right place as we wound out of 2025.”
Matt Corby’s Live From Sydney ABC NYE 2025 is out now via Island Records Australia.
His forthcoming album, Tragic Magic, was listed as one of The Music’s Most Anticipated Australian Albums of 2026.
Featuring 13 tracks, Corby co-produced the Motown-inspired record with Chris Collins (Middle Kids, Old Mervs), which contains the already-released singles Long And Short and Burn It Out, the latter of which was co-written with Collins and Meg Mac.
An example of what’s to come on the record: Corby can be heard playing drums, bass, piano, percussion, and mellotron, and arranging the string section alongside Collins and Stephen Mowat.
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