Born in Oyster Bay in suburban Sydney in 1990, Matthew John Corby was raised on gospel music and later developed a fondness for Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young. He had played locally in Sydney and toured with a church band by the time he auditioned for Australian Idol in 2007. Corby ultimately finished in second place on the show's fifth season. Scorpio Music later released his intimate, acoustic guitar-based debut EP, Song For..., in 2009, after which Corby relocated to London, England, and signed with the Communion label.
Communion issued the Corby EPs My False and Transition to Colour in 2010. The songwriter soon had some of his tunes licensed for American and Australian television series, including Home and Away and Brothers and Sisters. Meanwhile, he performed at the SXSW music festival in the U.S. in addition to shows in Australia and the U.K., the latter of which included support dates with Elbow. A fourth EP, Into the Flame, arrived in late 2011 and featured a bluesier sound with more forceful vocals. By the end of 2012, Into the Flame had been certified platinum multiple times over in Australia, where it reached number three. Corby's next single, "Resolution," from a 2013 EP of the same name, also hit the Top Five of the singles chart, and it won an ARIA for Song of the Year. The EP Live on the Resolution Tour followed before the end of the year.
Corby reemerged in October 2015 with the soulful single "Monday" from his full-length debut, Telluric, which was issued by Universal Music Australia and Atlantic in March 2016. With the album hitting the charts in the U.K., New Zealand, and topping the album chart in Australia, he embarked on a world tour in support of the release.
Retreating to his home in New South Wales, he became a father while also putting down the beginnings of his sophomore album. Recorded at the Music Farm Studios in Byron Bay with Corby playing all the instruments (strings, drums, synths, and more), the resulting Rainbow Valley arrived on Universal Music Australia in late 2018. The following year, he teamed up with Tash Sultana for the single "Talk It Out," and with rappers Triple One and Kwame on "So Easy."
Corby's third studio album was recorded against the backdrop of severe flooding in Queensland and New South Wales in early 2022. He, his son, and then-pregnant wife needed rescuing from their home by neighbors on the day he was to begin tracking at his own Rainbow Valley Studios. After helping to deliver provisions to others by small watercraft and doing some emergency work on his own home, Corby commenced recording with Chris Collins (Gang of Youths, Middle Kids), with his family taking refuge in the studio. The resulting Everything's Fine saw release in March 2023 on Island Records. ~ Marcy Donelson, Rovi