Matthew John Corby (born 7 November 1990) is an Australian singer-songwriter. He achieved his commercial breakthrough with his fourth EP, Into the Flame (2011), which peaked at No. 3 on the ARIA Singles Chart, and by April 2012, was certified 6× Platinum by ARIA. His 2011 single "Brother" and his 2013 single "Resolution" both won ARIA Music Awards for Song of the Year. Corby has released four studio albums, Telluric (2016), Rainbow Valley (2018), Everything's Fine (2023) and Tragic Magic (2026).
Early life Matthew Corby was born in Sydney, Australia, and raised in Oyster Bay, New South Wales.
Corby's earliest musical memory is being driven past a guitar shop as a five-year-old and being captivated by the rows of shiny instruments in the window. His father John bought his son a three-quarter acoustic guitar for $80, on which Corby started having one lesson a week. The first song he learned to play was "Greensleeves".
Corby attended Inaburra School in Bangor, New South Wales where he grew up steeped in gospel; his passion for music fed first by renditions of "His Eye is on the Sparrow" and later by a love for Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Corby attended Shirelive church with his family.
Corby's school principal encouraged him to sing at a school assembly where he performed a song from Sister Act 2.
By the time he was 10, Corby had been trained classically by an opera singer and was making tentative steps into musical theatre, playing a minor role in a production of Cain and Abel and Sutherland Shire Light Opera Company's take on The Secret Garden.
At age 13, Corby joined a church band called Iron and Clay, Corby left the group just before his 16th birthday, and got a job making sandwiches at Subway before going back to school in Year 11, which coincided with his Australian Idol appearance.
Career 2007: Australian Idol
At age 16, Corby auditioned for the fifth season of Australian Idol, where he finished as runner-up. Years later, he described participating in the competition as being a "big fucking mistake", describing how the struggle to forge his own identity post-Idol was bigger than most could have seen from the outside. "I took all the negatives out of that (Idol) and thought 'Bugger, I've ruined everything'".
One aspect of Australian Idol that the media speculated about was the number of Christian musicians among the finalists. The media suggested that Christians were "stacking" the voting to keep "their" artists on the show. Corby rejected those suggestions by stating that he was not part of a big church and was not promoting himself as religious.
Australian Idol performances and results (2007) Week Theme Song Original artist Result Audition Contestant's Choice "Superstitious" Stevie Wonder Through to Theatre Week Theatre Week (Line Challenge) Contestant's Choice "Hound Dog" Big Mama Thornton safe Theatre Week (Group Challenge) "End of the Road" (with Rosie Ribbons, Daniel Mifsud & Natalie Gauci) Boyz II Men safe Theatre Week Contestant's Choice "Bedouin Song" Lior Through to top 24 / semi finals Top 24 / semi-final Contestant's Choice "I Wish" Stevie Wonder Through to live shows / top 12 Top 12 Contestant's Choice "The Scientist" Coldplay Safe Top 11 Rock "Immigrant Song" Led Zeppelin Safe Top 10 Disco "Got to Get You Into My Life" The Beatles Safe Top 9 Acoustic "The Blower's Daughter" Damien Rice Safe Top 8 Brit pop "Bitter Sweet Symphony" The Verve Safe Top 7 The Year You Were Born "Another Day in Paradise" Phil Collins Bottom 2 Top 6 Judge's Choice / Contestants Choice "The Music of the Night" "Transatlanticism" Michael Crawford Death Cab for Cutie Safe Top 5 Australian Made "20 Good Reasons" Thirsty Merc Safe Top 4 Big Band "Beyond the Sea" "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" Bobby Darrin Marvin Gaye Safe Top 3 Audience ChoiceContestant's Choice "It's Too Late" "Across the Universe" EvermoreThe Beatles Safe Finale (top 2) "Mind's Eye""High & Dry""Here I Am" WolfmotherRadioheadMatt Corby Runner-Up
After the Idol finale, Corby passed on a record deal offered by Sony Music Australia.
The week after he turned 18, Corby landed in London, staying in a friend's attic.
2009–2010: Song for..., My False and Transition to Colour EPs
On 5 June 2009, Corby independently released his debut extended play, Song for..., with Scorpio Music.
Whilst in London, Corby met with indie label Communion Music and found himself encouraged to learn the craft of songwriting, to understand the marriage between the force of his voice and the words it carries.
In 2010, Corby released two EPs with Communion, My False and Transition to Colour, but was forced home when he ran out of money, having accrued a debt of around $80,000.
Corby's track "Made of Stone" was featured on an episode of Underbelly: Razor in 2011 and on ABC's Brothers and Sisters. "Lighthome" was in an episode of Home and Away in 2011, and "Song for..." in 2012 on the same TV series. Corby recorded a cover version of INXS's "By My Side" for the band's album, Original Sin, as a bonus track for the iTunes edition. He was featured on a track on Julia Stone's debut solo album, The Memory Machine, and on UK singer-songwriter Passenger's track "Golden Thread", from the 2010 album Flight of the Crow. The EP also featured in The Blacklist starring James Spader.
2011–2012: Into the Flame EP and "Brother"
After a few months of writing, Corby spent September 2011 recording his fourth EP, Into the Flame, with producer Tim Carr. The EP showcased a new direction for Corby, including soul-influenced, growling vocals along with a bluesy melody, in conjunction with Corby's signature folk style. The title song has been described as "lyrically raw and endearingly honest". The EP also features a duet with keyboardist Bree Tranter, previously a part of Australian band, The Middle East. The EP provided Corby's first entry on the ARIA Charts, where it reached No. 46 on the ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart on 4 December 2011. It subsequently peaked at No. 3. Upon its release, Corby posted a message on his website and Facebook page:
By December 2012, Into the Flame achieved 6× platinum certification by ARIA. Corby supported the release of his EP and its single "Brother" with a national into the Flame Tour. It included a mini Secret Garden Summer Tour around New South Wales. In January 2012, Corby was named the 'Next Big Thing' and won 'Song of the Year' for "Brother" at FBi Radio's annual SMAC Awards in Darlinghurst, New South Wales. He premiered his rendition of The Black Keys' song, "Lonely Boy", for radio station Triple J's segment, Like a Version, with hosts Tom and Alex, along with an acoustic rendition of his own song, "Brother". Both have since received significant attention online. Corby secured a support slot with Feist in Adelaide on her 2012 Australian tour. Early in 2012, he toured throughout the US and UK. Corby's song "Brother" was voted into the No. 3 position for the Triple J Hottest 100, 2011, and his cover of "Lonely Boy" was voted at No. 69 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2012. Corby released a Digital iTunes Session EP on 7 December 2012, playing five of his songs from his previous EP's acoustically on guitar and one on piano, as well as a rendition of "Amazing Grace". Corby spent the first half of 2013 in Los Angeles, working on his upcoming record, due for release later that year. Corby was nominated for three 2012 ARIA Music Awards, including two nominations in industry voted categories, Breakthrough Artist and Best Male Artist. He won the publicly voted Song of the Year category.2012 Winners announced.Australian Recording Industry Association. 29 November 2012. Archived from the original on 29 November 2012 The newly recorded version of 'Made of Stone' can be heard on the NCIS television promo in the USA.Gather Entertainment: NCIS Promo Gather Entertainment. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
Matt was featured on a Hunters & Collectors tribute album collaborating with Australian artist Missy Higgins, recording a version of "This Morning".
2013–2014: Resolution
On 21 May 2013, Corby released "Resolution". It became his first charting single, peaked at number 3 on the ARIA Charts. The song also charted in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, becoming his first charting material in those countries. On 12 July 2013, the Resolution EP was released, containing the single and three new original songs. One of which, "Lay You Down", entered the ARIA Charts at number 75 despite receiving no independent promotion.
"Resolution" was voted in eighth place in Triple J Hottest 100, 2013. In December 2013, "Resolution" won the ARIA Award for Song of the Year. On 13 December, Corby released the Live On the Resolution Tour EP. Its five original songs were recorded live at the Australian and New Zealand shows, including a cover of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's "Almost Cut My Hair".
Corby got involved with a Brisbane-based arts collective called "Museum Collective", described on their Facebook page as an "Audio Visual Sensory Experience". The band also features Rohin Jones (who is Museum Collective's musical director), Bree Tranter & Michael Haydon, formerly of The Middle East, as well as Lyndon de la Cruz, Kahl Wallis (of The Medics), Bud Rokesky and Tom Wearne. Museum Collective ran free performances at Brisbane's Old Museum building in September & December and also at Woodford Folk Festival on 28 December 2013.
In January 2014, Corby released the song "What the Devil Has Made", arranged specifically for the Spirit of Akasha soundtrack. The surf documentary was inspired by the 1971 film, Morning of the Earth. He recorded all parts of the track – including harmonies, flute and guitar – on his own in his home studio. The soundtrack also features Corby's version of Tamam Shud's "First Things First" (originally used in the 1971 film).
Also in February 2014, Corby's song "Breathe", from his 2010 EP Transition to Colour, was featured in the closing scenes of the 21st episode of the fourth season of the popular US teen drama / mystery thriller TV series Pretty Little Liars, titled "She's Come Undone".
2015–2017: "Monday" and Telluric
On 1 October 2015, Corby released his first song in two years, "Monday" from his debut album, Telluric. The song was described as containing "lush, transcendent harmonies, wailing falsetto, folky boom-claps and heartbreaking lyrics." The song reportedly took 10 minutes to record, and was laid down in a cottage in the NSW coastal town of Berry where he wrote and recorded most of the album. Corby said to Matt and Alex of Triple J: "It's stomping on the ground and clapping. It feels good to have that as a composition in a weird way, it's just your voice and everyone who would maybe want to do a cover of that if they so wish, it'll always sound different because they'll have to harmonise with their own [voice]."
"Monday" was voted number 53 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2015.
Telluric was released on 11 March 2016. American artist, Gary Burden, designed the album cover. It debuted at number one in Australia.
Corby was featured on the track "Serious" from Norwegian DJ Kygo's debut album Cloud Nine, released on 13 May 2016.
2018–2021: Rainbow Valley
Corby released his first song in two years, "No Ordinary Life", on 3 August 2018.
On 7 September 2018, Corby announced his second studio album Rainbow Valley would be released on 2 November 2018. Upon release, the album was the highest local debut of the week in Australia, debuting at number 4 on the ARIA charts. He also subsequently released the second, third and fourth singles from the album, titled "All Fired Up", "All That I See" and "Miracle Love".