Kate Miller-Heidke releases new single 'Holiday' and announces sixth album 'The Kiss and The Abyss' will be released in August
Image: Simon Lekias
Published: 12 June 2026
Australia’s Kate Miller-Heidke today releases her new single ‘Holiday’ and announces her sixth studio album The Kiss and the Abyss will be released on 14 August.
‘Holiday’ is a quirky, charming nugget of observational pop as Miller-Heidke, in an almost stream of consciousness manner, sings about taking a well-earned holiday and the inevitable disasters that happen along the way.
"It's about needing a holiday so much that you sabotage your own holiday," says Kate. "You anticipate it for months, and then somehow it all goes spectacularly wrong. I think everyone has experienced that."
Directed by filmmaker John Sheedy (The Rabbits, Runt), the music video is a compelling, camp journey through a holiday slowly going pear shaped and the characters - both good and bad - that seem to pop up on every holiday you take. The cast features drag queens Lazy Susan (winner of Drag Race Down Under Season 4) and Serenity, who impersonates Madonna performing her breakthrough hit single of the same name.
‘Holiday’ is the first single from Miller-Heidke’s sixth studio album The Kiss and the Abyss, which is due to be released on 14 August. Written with long-time collaborator Keir Nuttall and recorded in England with producer Tom Iansek, the album will feature 11 tracks and sees Miller-Heidke return to the folk influences that informed her earliest releases.
To celebrate the release of the album, Miller-Heidke also announces today a series of album launch shows across Australia. Opening the tour on 29 August at Daylesford, she will then perform in Sydney, Perth, Melbourne and Adelaide before closing in Brisbane on 25 September. More info and tickets are here.
Miller-Heidke has been one of Australia’s most versatile and compelling artists since she first released music in 2002. From her mega-hit ‘The Last Day On Earth’ to representing Australia at Eurovision with ‘Zero Gravity’, and with music crossing from folk to pop to comedy, there is seemingly nothing she cannot do making her truly one of Australia’s most distinctive performers. Six years on from her last album, The Kiss and the Abyss marks a new chapter in Miller-Heidke’s career and is assured to be just as incredible as everything that has lead up to this.
‘Holiday’ is out now via EMI Music. You can download and stream here
The Kiss and the Abyss will be released via EMI Music on 14 August. You can pre-order and pre-save here.
Follow Kate Miller-Heidke on Instagram and Facebook.
