NEWS
Premieres / Exclusives
Premiere: Grace Turbo Unpacks Emotional Fallout On New Single Bleed Again
Sydney’s indie underground has always had a way of turning emotional confusion into something strangely beautiful, and Grace Turbo leans directly into that tension on her new…
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Premiere: Lunar Twin announce new album ‘Night Jaguar’ and unveil lead single, the rich and enigmatic ‘Disappear In The Earth’.
We are very honoured to premiere the new single ‘Disappear From The Earth’ from one of our favourite US bands, Lunar Twin, as a taster to their newly announced album ‘Night…
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Premiere: Sydney-based punk band This Time Only exclusively reveal their thumping new single ‘Papers’
We are honoured to premiere the new single ‘Papers’ from Sydney-based punk band This Time Only. ‘Paper’s is a thoroughly refreshing and urgent blast of sound delivering…
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Premiere: Sarah Jane & The Noise channel raw grunge energy in new video for daisies
There’s a certain kind of chaos that never really leaves rock music. It just waits for the right band to drag it back into the light. Enter Sarah Jane & The Noise, who arrive swinging…
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Premiere: ‘This Is How It Hurts’ – Justin Stokes (from the band Wilding) shows us exactly how in his new solo project Modern Ideas.
We are massive fans of the work of Justin Stokes through his work with the band Wilding, admiring his ability to craft intelligent self-deprecating pop of the highest order. We are therefore…
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Track / Video
News: Sunk Loto Return With Crushing New Single Dead Shadows
Nearly three decades after first forming on the Gold Coast, Sunk Loto are still refusing to fade quietly into legacy status. New single “Dead Shadows” proves exactly why. The track marks the…
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News: Charli XCX Swaps Brat Chaos For Guitars On New Single Rock Music
For the past year, pop culture has largely existed inside the fluorescent green afterglow of Brat. Now, Charli XCX appears ready to kick the whole thing through a wall of distorted…
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Track: Aotearoa/New Zealand’s Ringlets release new single ‘Hard Evidence’ ahead of UK/European tour
Last year’s delightfully entitled ‘The Lord Is My German Shepherd (Time For Walkies)’ from the magnificent Ringlets (reviewed by me here) was followed by a few appearance across the…
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Album Reviews
Album Review: Ana Roxanne – ‘Poem 1’: A stunning revelation in tender, honest song by this singular ambient musician.
The beguiling voice of ambient musician Ana Roxanne has been gradually revealing itself with each release. Once bathing in a gentle flow of rippling drones and rustling field recordings on her…
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Album Review: Modern Woman – ‘Johnny’s Dreamworld’: A fully fledged, opening statement from the London art-rock dynamos.
As ‘Johnny’s Dreamworld’, the debut album by London art-rockers Modern Woman, goes to show, the slow evolution of an idea often brings the finest results. The fourpiece first cut through on…
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Album Review: Dave Graney and Clare Moore do a delicate pirouette with rock and an arched brow in their new album ‘Laburnam of the Mind’
There’s always been something gloriously unbothered about Dave Graney and Clare Moore — a sense that the rules of engagement (hits, trends, relevance) are for other people. ‘Laburnum Of…
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Album Review: Anenon – ‘Dream Temperature’: Enthralling, dream-state miniatures from the singular LA composer/instrumentalist.
‘Dream Temperature’, the second release on Tonal Union by saxophonist and composer Brian Allen Simon (aka Anenon), is an album of departures and returns. While 2016’s ‘Petrol’ captured the…
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Album Review: Leaf Mosaic unveils debut album ‘Sapient’: a collection of sparkling pure pop jewels.
Following up from the brilliant single ‘What Changed?’ released a few weeks ago, duo Leaf Mosaic have unveiled their electrifying debut album ‘Sapient’ and it is clear…
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Album Review: Naná Rizinni – ‘Epiblast’: An energetic, feisty electro-jazz fusion set from the Brazilian drummer/composer.
A go-to session drummer, vocalist and songwriter within the São Paulo scene, Naná Rizinni looks set to drive home her credentials with her new album ‘Epiblast’, released via Bridge the Gap.…
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Interviews
Interview: It’s Not a Documentary — It’s an Act: Baxter Dury on Nepotism, Performance and the Strange Theatre of Modern Life
When I last saw Baxter Dury, it was during Dark Mofo in Hobart — a setting whose nocturnal weirdness felt oddly perfect for his particular brand of dry, late-night storytelling. Over the past…
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Feature: Fokofpolisiekar Reflect on Swanesang at 20 as Australian & NZ Tour Extends Legacy
South African punk band Fokofpolisiekar reflect on Swanesang 20 years on, as Hunter Kennedy discusses identity, rebellion and taking the band's music to audiences in Australia and New Zealand.
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Meet: A.S. Fanning Talks About His New Album ‘Take Me Back To Nowhere’
On his fourth studio album Take Me Back To Nowhere, A.S. Fanning sounds both unmoored and quietly resolute. Drawing inspiration from science-fiction, experimental sound worlds, and a newly…
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Meet: Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys Talk Us Through New Single & The Upcoming Album ‘Pale Bloom’
With a body of work that thrives on tension, restraint, and emotional depth, Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys have built a reputation for music that lingers long after it’s heard. As they move…
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Meet: John Witherspoon Talks Through The Elegant New Single ‘My Baby’ & Upcoming Album
Liverpool’s John Witherspoon is back with his most emotionally intricate single yet, ‘My Baby’, releasing September 19th as the final preview of his third studio album, One Of…
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Meet: Ash frontman Tim Wheeler – “If it wasn’t fun and playful, we’d have quit long ago”
Ash frontman Tim Wheeler is in reflective but upbeat mood as he talks about the band’s new album To The Stars, their first since 2021. “It’s the shortest gap we’ve had since our first and…
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Features / Playlists
News: Hard-Fi to Headline Harlequins’ Big Summer Kick-Off at Allianz Stadium
British indie heavyweights Hard-Fi are set to return to their South West London stomping grounds this May. The Staines-formed outfit has been confirmed as the headline act…
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Interview: It’s Not a Documentary — It’s an Act: Baxter Dury on Nepotism, Performance and the Strange Theatre of Modern Life
When I last saw Baxter Dury, it was during Dark Mofo in Hobart — a setting whose nocturnal weirdness felt oddly perfect for his particular brand of dry, late-night storytelling. Over the past…
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Feature: Backseat Mafia’s photographic tribute to Bluesfest Byron Bay
For four years, Backseat Mafia has covered Bluesfest Byron Bay, an iconic event on the Australian music calendar. On March 13th, just three weeks before what would have been the 37th Bluesfest…
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Live review
Live Review: Gabrielle Aplin – Project House, Leeds. 06.05.26
Gabrielle Aplin brings her retrospective tour to Leeds #gabrielleaplin #livemusic #backseatmafia #review #gigphotography
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Live Gallery: From The Vanguard To City Recital Hall: Bear’s Den’s Sydney Return Feels Massive 09.05.2026
The City Recital Hall can feel almost intimidating before a show begins. Towering walls, polished timber, rows upon rows of seated anticipation. It’s the kind of venue that demands…
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Say Psych: Live Review: Fuzz Club Eindhoven, Day Two: 02.05.2026
A two-day celebration of global psychedelia and all things fuzz, reverb and drone, the festival (founded by the London-based label of the same name and now on its fifth edition) returned to…
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Live Gallery: HighSchool Bring Their Acclaimed Debut Album To Sydney’s Lansdowne Hotel 07.05.2026
Sydney finally feels like winter tonight. The cold cuts through the streets outside, but inside The Lansdowne Hotel the room is already packed shoulder-to-shoulder long…
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Say Psych: Live Review: Fuzz Club Eindhoven, Day One: 01.05.2026
A two-day celebration of global psychedelia and all things fuzz, reverb and drone, the festival (founded by the London-based label of the same name and now on its fifth edition) returned to…
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Live Review: Incineration Festival, Camden, London 02/05/2026
Incineration Festival has, over a relatively short span of years, evolved from a standout date on the calendar into something far more personal—a fixed point, an annual return that feels less…
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Film
News: Kylie Minogue opens her archives for new three-part documentary KYLIE
Some pop stars have eras. Kylie Minogue has decades. From her first rush of fame as Charlene on Neighbours to becoming one of the most reliable hitmakers in modern pop,…
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News: The life and times of William Arthur and his iconic Sydney band Glide is explored in ‘Disappear Here’, a film by Ben deHoedt.
Glide were a seminal Sydney band that burned brightly and all together too briefly in the nineties, beset by tragedy when their singer and songwriter William Arthur died at the end of that…
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Film Review: January
Winter can be a magical time of year and there’s nothing more atmospheric than a sprinkling of snow. In many places, that light covering becomes something different entirely. In Eastern…
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Sundance Review: Iron Butterflies
As we approach the first anniversary of the full Russian invasion of Ukraine, it’s easy to forget that this war didn’t start in 2022. Indeed, the (recent) troubles with Russia can be traced…
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Sundance Review: Slow
Cinema reflects the age, society and country it’s made in. For example, 1950s Hollywood portrayed romance as straightforward love between a man and a woman. They meet, get to know each other…
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Sundance Review: When It Melts
Trauma is a terrible thing. It’s not something you can outrun or escape from. It doesn’t matter how many years you bottle it up inside, it will suddenly resurface when you least expect it. You…
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