The strutting, glam rock of Wet Kiss is the brainchild of frontwoman Brenna O and tells a story of music being more than an art, but your life.
After releasing some homemade electronic EPs, it was only on her 2022 work She’s So Cool that Melbourne musician Brenna O saw her true vision for Wet Kiss come into view.“It was the first time I worked with a full band,” she says. “We recorded it really spur of the moment.”
Brenna and bandmates Aldo Thomas, Daniel Ward, Ben Sendy-Smithers and Ruby Stoney lived together in an old warehouse in Coburg while recording Wet Kiss’ debut album. The griminess of the spot translates in the recordings: distant traces of The Velvet Underground’s enigmatic proto-punk and the nonchalant sleaze of Yeah Yeah Yeahs can be heard.
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“Everything was done in a week,” Brenna tells me. “Everything was immediate and there was no core theme. I wasn’t trying to make a grand statement about anything.”
With the band assembled and the album complete, success seemed imminent. But Brenna took a left turn and moved to Berlin shortly after releasing their debut. It was a move that could’ve jeopardised Wet Kiss for good – she left her band behind in Melbourne and started afresh on the other side of the world.
“I felt like when I was in Berlin, I ruined my chances at being a musician,” Brenna admits. “You’re this newcomer into a scene and everyone’s very dubious of you. It’s like being 18 again.”
While regretful at first, it proved to be the right decision. “I got to be in this underground movie; we played at Art Basel and made heaps of friends and connections,” Brenna says. “And I got really good stories out of it.”
The risky move gave Brenna more “time to digest” She’s So Cool and write about her experiences, “like travelling and living in Berlin.” As a result, she discovered her main desire with music: “to embody stardom and what it is to be in showbiz.”
Brenna’s rejuvenated ambition for stardom is on full display in the band’s upcoming sophomore record, Thus Spoke the Broken Chanteuse, out on June 27. What Wet Kiss embody on paper – their onstage glitz and glamour and the euphoria of playing gig after gig – comes through in their new ’70s-inspired sound.
The lead single Isn’t Music Wonderful carries a great notion in its optimistic title. When I asked Brenna what music has provided for her, her answers were incredibly selfless.
“It’s crushed my ego and dissolved guilt, which also restricts your ego from reaching a higher potential,” she says. “It’s also allowed me to push myself to fully engage in it. I’ll take on all the networking and I’ll just write music all the time.”
She continues: “The pure desire is just to be on stage. Music just helped me change my thinking about that, and in that, I get to be incredibly generous. I get to work with people, shout people out and be adored.”
It is, however, a double-edged sword – music is hard work. “You can’t be a star unless you’re 100% dedicated to the craft of manifesting,” Brenna says.
The new album also explores lots of lyrical posturing. Brenna reveals Isn’t Music Wonderful began as a love song but changed direction to include music as an arduous endeavour once she decided to be more honest: “When am I gonna be a star?/ I’m searching in my bag for last night’s drag,” she sings.
“Everything I was thinking of touching on the first record, like, ‘Okay, you create this character, then you wake up and you become her.’ That’s where I’m at,” Brenna shares. “I almost feel like I’m dreaming sometimes.”
It’s safe to say Wet Kiss has been making waves. The band brought their rapturous live show to festival audiences for the first time at Golden Plains 2025, their biggest gig yet. “I don’t really get nervous – I get more excited, I get pensive. I can go a bit quiet, but I get on and it’s fun,” Brenna says.
“Golden Plains – my hands were shaking,” she admits. “I never experienced that, but once I got out, lightning strikes and you just have to do it. I’d love to play more festivals. I gotta say we pulled it off immaculately, but it was hard.”
Wet Kiss will return to familiar territory on May 9 with another single launch at the Curtin. “We’re bringing in other bigger bands and people who sort of have the same similar bit more of a glam vibe to them,” Brenna says. “We want it to feel big.”
Reflecting on her place in Melbourne’s diverse music scene, Brenna knows she’s got something unique where “everyone kind of has their own thing going on.”
“A lot of my idols are from the past. I’m not exactly trying to imitate anyone from now,” she says. “I’m more inspired by someone like James Brown, who would also have such a high standard than other people in the scene who are doing something more slacker or ’90s, you know?”
Brenna continues: “I think on stage, I have an ability to hold a crowd and I know how fundamentally important it is to never, ever show that you’re fucked up and never look scared or insecure. Because then you lose the audience.”
If there’s any advice she has to offer, it’s owning that stage presence with confidence. “[There’s] nothing worse when you’re watching a performer and they apologise throughout a set. But obviously, I would embrace anyone to just do what they want. Put your chin up. Breathe. You know, the audience is very forgiving,” she adds.
Even if it’s taken her some time (and a trip to the other side of the world), the hard work is paying off. Without a doubt, music is Brenna’s life. “Everyone in society has a role. Mine’s the fantasy of a rock star.”
Wet Kiss are playing The Curtin on 9 May. Grab tickets here.
