A previously unreleased collaboration between Chrissy Amphlett and Tim Finn, recorded in Sydney and New York, will finally be heard more than 30 years after the songs were written.
by Paul Cashmere
A lost chapter in Chrissy Amphlett’s musical story will be revealed on October 2, 2026, when three previously unreleased recordings she made with Tim Finn are released as the Some Times EP.
The three-song collection brings together Amphlett and Finn’s collaboration on “He’s In Love”, “Crash” and “Sometimes”, songs that began taking shape around 30 years ago as the Divinyls frontwoman explored a different creative direction.
The recordings were produced by Amphlett, Finn and her husband Charley Drayton, with sessions taking place in Sydney and New York. The completed recordings offer a markedly intimate setting for Amphlett, whose public identity was so often defined by the force of her Divinyls performances.
“He’s In Love”, the lead track, places that contrast at the centre of the recording. Amphlett’s vocal is presented with a fragility that differs from the confrontational energy associated with many of her best-known performances.
An accompanying video for “He’s In Love” has been made by Robert Hambling, whose credits include work with Midnight Oil, Cold Chisel and Silverchair.
Finn recalled that Amphlett was consciously looking for another musical language when they began working together.
“It felt to me at the time that Chrissy was looking for a new creative direction,” Finn says. “She loved singing with piano.”
Finn had an old Bechstein upright piano, and Amphlett would lean close to it while singing, allowing the instrument to shape the way she approached the material. For Finn, the sessions suggested that Amphlett was interested in new melodies and lyrical ideas and in moving towards something more personal.
The personnel on Some Times reflect the collaborative nature of the sessions. Amphlett provides vocals across the EP, while Finn plays piano and synth on all three tracks and adds support vocals to “Sometimes”. Drayton contributes drums and percussion, support vocals on “Sometimes”, bass on “He’s In Love” and additional guitar on “Sometimes”. Greg Hitchcock plays guitar throughout and bass on “Sometimes”.
Pat Thrall mixed and mastered the recordings, with Peter Contini engineering. Michael Mortlock designed the cover, with the front photograph by Sandrine Lee and the back-cover photograph and “He’s In Love” video by Hambling.
The recordings offer another perspective on Amphlett’s work beyond Divinyls, the Sydney band she formed with Mark McEntee in 1980. Divinyls became one of Australia’s defining rock acts, releasing six albums between 1982 and 1996 and scoring their biggest international success with “I Touch Myself”.
“I Touch Myself” reached number one in Australia, number four in the United States and number 10 in the United Kingdom. Divinyls were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2006.
Amphlett also pursued acting and theatrical work during and beyond her Divinyls career. She appeared in the film Monkey Grip, starred opposite Russell Crowe in the Australian production of Blood Brothers and played Judy Garland in Australian productions of The Boy from Oz.
Her final years included further music projects, including The Tulips, a collaboration with Drayton and Kraig Jarret Johnson. Amphlett died in New York in April 2013, aged 53.
More than a decade after her death, Some Times adds three previously unheard recordings to her catalogue and documents a less familiar side of an artist whose career was built on reinvention.
The Some Times EP will be released on October 2, 2026, as a digital release, a limited-edition CD and a limited-edition three-track 12-inch 45rpm vinyl pressing. Both the CD and vinyl editions are limited to 200 copies.
The tracklist is:
“He’s In Love”
“Crash”
“Sometimes”
The digital edition is available for pre-order for $6 AUD or more, the limited CD for $17.50 AUD or more and the limited 12-inch vinyl for $40 AUD or more.
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