Odyssey Number Five is the fourth studio album by the Australian rock band Powderfinger, produced by Nick DiDia and released on 4 September 2000 by Universal Music.

[14] The album is the band's shortest yet, focusing on social, political, and emotional issues that had appeared in prior works, especially Internationalist.

[16] Powderfinger worked with producer Nick DiDia on Odyssey Number Five, as they had done on Internationalist, finishing the album in August 2000 after six weeks of recording.

[17] The band spent this time ensuring higher quality songs than on Internationalist, which had featured out-of-tune guitars on "Passenger".

[16] Like Powderfinger's previous album, Internationalist, Odyssey Number Five commented on social and political issues heavily, with the primary point of focus being Aboriginal affairs.

"[20] As well as providing social commentary, Odyssey Number Five also discussed love, a recurring motif in Fanning's songwriting.

Fanning told Billboard in a 2001 interview that the band were not taking anything for granted, however, stating, "In America, we haven't really done any work yet to deserve any major popularity",[22] with the "vibes" on previous albums failing to reach the American mainstream.

[22][24] This success was assisted by the band appearing on the Late Show with David Letterman, and by supporting Coldplay on tour.

The album was released in the United Kingdom on Polydor, with 15 minutes of video and an additional track, "Nature Boy", at a later date.

Collins and Middleton recalled that the song was written and produced with photos of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman on the wall of the band's studio "as inspiration".

They noted that the band made three songs in response to the Mission: Impossible 2 request, and that "My Kind of Scene" was chosen over "Up & Down & Back Again" and "Whatever Makes You Happy".

Drummer Jon Coghill said the song revolved around the question of "why the hell won't John Howard say sorry to the Aboriginal people!

[30] Two songs from the album, "The Metre" and "Waiting for the Sun", were released as a double A-side to form the final single.

[32] Despite this, Carlson praised the songs "Odyssey #5" and "My Happiness", stating that "too often, Powderfinger is too earnest, a bit too careful in their career".

[32] Devon Powers of PopMatters complimented Fanning's vocals and said the focus of the album was "meaty, rolling ballads".