Liz Rain

Movie soundtrack albums were BIG when I was younger. I owned many on CD, including Titanic, Garden State, and Love Actually. My favourite movie soundtrack album of all time might surprise you though: it’s The Horse Whisperer. Remember Robert Redford and a very young Scarlett Johansson in cowboy hats? Well, the movie stunk, but the soundtrack was a beautifully curated collection of alt country and Americana tracks both evocative and heartbreaking. Go figure! If you have any memorable soundtracks that jump to mind, I’d love to hear about them.

I always (yes, always – I’ve released three whole books now, so I can talk like a veteran author with a process!) make a “soundtrack” of my books early in the drafting stage, based loosely on the plot points. It really helps me get to the emotions of certain scenes. If I can feel what the character might be feeling in any given situation, it helps me write it.

So I thought I’d share! Click on the button to listen to the playlist on Spotify, and keep reading for a little explainer of why I’ve included each song. Careful – SPOILER ALERT! I recommend reading the book then giving the playlist a listen, if you want to live in the world of the characters a little longer. I’ve crammed it full of Aussie and sapphic singers I like (sometimes both!).

The Meet and Greet is a novel about uni lecturer Jane, who meets Aussie popstar Amber. As you can imagine, most of the songs on the playlist speak to Amber’s experience of the story – they’re sung by popstars after all. But some are “Jane” songs.

Let me know what you think!

• Cut To the Feeling – Carly Rae Jepsen. It’s no coincidence that my cat’s name is Carly Rae; I LOVE Carly Rae Jepsen! She has been turning out exquisite pop bangers for more than a decade, and her hard work has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated by me. This track is pure pop happiness, and captures the pure bliss of this type of music, that keeps The Meet and Greet’s love interest Amber coming back to pop, even though her career has its aggravations.
• Circus – Britney Spears. When I dedicated this novel to my beloved pop divas, Britney was top of mind. Circus is about being a pop star – “Baby, I’m a ‘put on a show’ kinda girl” is such a great lyric! The first line “there’s only two types of people in the world” is a cracking set-up for an opposites-attract story.
• Everyone’s Waiting – Missy Higgins. (Aussie artist, sapphic artist) When we meet Amber in the book, she’s sitting in front of a dressing-room mirror, just like the narrator in this beautiful song. Everyone’s Waiting is about the pressures of being a creator and performer. My main character Jane finds out about those, even though Amber’s life seems glamorous and fun from the outside.
• Edge of the Earth – The Beaches. (Sapphic artist) I was lucky enough to see this Canadian band as the opening act for GFlip recently. Gee whiz they’re good! This is a beautiful love song about how some girls are so magnetic and inevitable that leaving them feels like being pushed closer to them. I reckon the lead singer Jordan looks like a young Canadian Britney Spears – or is that just me?
• Love at First Sight – Kylie Minogue. (Aussie artist) Cheyenne Blue told me she thinks Amber has Kylie Minogue vibes, and she’s not wrong! Kylie is Australia’s original Princess of Pop, and this song is pure boppy joy.
• What If – Mia Wray. (Aussie artist. Sapphic artist) We saw Mia Wray in concert last March at a tiny Brisbane venue called The Brightside, and now she’s blowing up, opening for Ed Sheeran’s stadium tour recently. Her last album ‘hi, it’s nice to meet me’ is full of songs about her lesbian awakening, and this track is one of the best of them. I think of it as a glimpse inside of Jane’s head – asking again and again “what if?” something goes wrong in a relationship.
• Voodoo Child – Rogue Traders. (Aussie artist. Sapphic artist) Author mate Neen Cohen and I had a good old dance to this song at Moreton Bay PrideFest last year, when frontwoman Natalie Bassingthwaighte headlined the main stage.
• The Hit – aleksiah. (Aussie artist) This singer is from Adelaide and has definite Carly Rae vibes. Her breakout hit was a sapphic yearning song called Fern, and The Hit is upbeat and catchy, about how going all in on something could be your downfall.
• Super Love – Dami Im. (Aussie artist) This pop diva with an out-of-this-world voice is from Logan, Queensland – The City of Love!! No wonder she can belt out such beautiful love songs. She rose to fame not on Amber’s show Australian Idol, but a show along similar lines -Australian X-Factor.
• I Know Places – Taylor Swift. I can’t mention inspirational pop divas without talking about Taylor. I love wearing my Eras concert T-shirt around town because it’s such a conversation-starter with all types of people, even if the chat pretty much goes like this: Me – “Melbourne, night 2.” Checkout operator at OfficeWorks – “Sydney, night 4”. This song is about a secret relationship that the public cannot, under any circumstances, find out about. I’ve been enjoying listening to the original 1989 album since Taylor bought her masters back, but I’ve been surprised to find that I prefer the re-recorded Taylor’s Version of this track. Wonderland too. Email or DM me if you disagree or have your own thoughts. I could discuss her music til I’m blue in the face!
• Good Enough – GFlip. (Aussie artist. Sapphic artist) I first saw GFlip live when they were the pre-match entertainment at the 2021 AFLW grand final. And my Lions won! We saw them play their biggest ever headline show in Brisbane recently and it was absolutely amazing, especially when they waved a giant inclusive pride flag at the front of the stage, to deafening cheers from the crowd. This track is about the doubt that creeps in when you’re with someone amazing. How is it possible that they love you back?!
• Your Type – Carly Rae Jepsen. Yes, Carly Rae gets another mention on this soundtrack. She was number 1 on my Spotify Wrapped in 2024 – and she didn’t even release any music that year! Maybe I need help… Anyway, this track is about yearning for someone who is your total opposite.
• When It All Falls Apart – The Veronicas. (Aussie artist. Sapphic artist) Uh-oh, can I soften the blow of The Meet and Greet’s third act break-up with this truly excellent break-up song? Some people joke that Brisbane, the city where I grew up, is nothing but a big country town where everyone knows everyone. The Veronicas are from Brisbane too and, while I can’t claim to know them, they did go to performing arts school with a friend of mine and I met them at a party once before they became internationally famous. My impression was that they were friendly and rather short.
• Hits Different – Taylor Swift. Speaking of excellent break-up songs, this is a pearler. It’s about a relationship that is different from anything she has ever experienced before, which is why it hits harder when it ends.
• Lost Without You – Delta Goodrem. (Aussie artist) Delta is an Aussie icon, especially to Millennials like myself. I saw her in concert at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in 2005 (21 years ago – holy shit!) and again when she was the pre-match entertainment for the AFLW grand final in 2022 (the Lions lost, but I don’t blame Delta). Lost Without You was EVERYWHERE when I was a teenager in 2003.
• Aftertaste – Katie Gavin. (Sapphic artist) Katie is frontwoman of sapphic band MUNA, who I saw perform as an opening act for Lorde in Brisbane in 2023. On this opening track of her solo album, she describes NOT being over an ex as ‘living on the aftertaste’. Such a great lyric! Also check out the cover art for this album – that cat looks just like my cat Carly Rae.
• We Got Love – Jessica Mauboy. (Aussie artist) One of the reasons I love this song is that I saw Jessica perform it for the half-time show at the AFLW grand final in Adelaide in 2021, one of the greatest days of my life! She shot to fame after being runner-up on Australia Idol. This song was Australia’s entry for the Eurovision song contest in 2018, for those of you who follow that kind of thing. I’m also just now realising that Amber would get a huge kick out of performing at Eurovision – maybe she’ll be on the telly in the background of a pivotal scene in a future book.