Talented young singer-songwriter SOAK – aka Bridie Monds-Watson – took her first trip to Australia earlier this year, and she’s already coming back for more. Touring the country with Falls Festival over the new year, you can also catch her Sydney sideshow with her new three-piece band at Newtown Social Club on January 8.

Before she hits our shores, Bridie gave us her favourite jams of 2015 and revealed what she’s looking forward to most about returning to Oz…

Five things I’ll do when I get to Australia:

1. Goo​n of Fortune.

2. Find and hug a koala.

3. Apply a tonne of sunscreen on my weak Irish skin.

4. Not go into ‘the bush’.

5. Laugh at Australian football.

“I don’t know how to extend on all of my Australian ambitions… I like koalas! Goon Of Fortune just feels like my kind of game and I didn’t get to do it last time. I’m probably going to get burnt really bad. I will be trying to avoid spiders for the duration of my stay. Australian football is so weird.”

Top five songs of 2015:

1. Mabel – ‘My Boy, My Town’ (TUNE)

2. Shura – ‘2Shy’

3. Villagers – ‘Darling Arithmetic’

4. The 1975 – ‘Love Me’

5. Courtney Barnett – ‘Depreston’

“All of these songs are just mega tunes. ‘Love Me’ by The 1975 was a really exciting comeback single and it’s really interesting to see where they’re going with this ‘movement’. Mabel is a really exciting new artist and I’m surprised that song isn’t bigger than it is. ‘2Shy’ is like a song you would sing on a drunken evening on the way home, or I would anyway.”

WHO: SOAK – supported by Caitlin Park
WHERE: Newtown Social Club
WHEN: Friday January 8, 2016
HOW MUCH: $39 +BF here