Adapting easily across genres, Chris Collins has become one of the most ubiquitous producers and songwriters in Australian indie music. The Sydney native cut his teeth fronting the bands The View and Tigertown, before distinguishing himself behind the desk in the late 2010s. Collins scored two ARIAs for his work on Royel Otis’s 2024 album PRATTS & PAIN, with a great many successes on both sides of that breakthrough. He has juggled R&B (Budjerah), psych pop (Babe Rainbow), country (Brad Cox), folk (Matt Corby), and more, always bringing closeness and warmth to the proceedings. Observe the polished immediacy Collins lends to 2022 solo turns from The Veronicas’ Origliasso sisters: Lisa’s soul-kissed “Cruisin’ on My Own” and Jessie’s pop firecracker “Seeing Stars.” Now working primarily out of rural Byron Bay, he has repeatedly proven how he can render noisier material with just as much clarity, bringing out the bite in The Buoys, The Vanns, The Terrys, and Skegss. And on merci, mercy’s 2025 single “I Bet She’s Really Nice,” Collins balances airy strings and crunchy distortion with delicate finger-picking to nail the song’s mood-swinging alt-rock.