NEWS
Premieres / Exclusives
Album Review: Things We Did on Earth – The Kilbey/Kennedy sonic spaceship alights in our universe, and they’re better than ever.
Over the years, writing about Steve Kilbey and Martin Kennedy has become a little like tracing constellations across different skies. Whether reviewing latter-day albums by The Church or…
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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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Track / Video
Track: Leah Senior leans into quiet reflection on new single ‘Softly, Once Again’
Australian folk artist Leah Senior has never sounded particularly interested in shouting above the noise, and her new single ‘Softly, Once Again’ leans directly into that instinct. Taken from…
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Track: Laguna channels psych-fuzz chaos on new single ‘Myrtle’
Geelong musician and songwriter Laguna is continuing to carve out a space between garage experimentation and psychedelic abrasion with new single ‘Myrtle’, a restless, fuzz-covered…
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Track: Clovr announces debut album paper elephants and shares new single ‘closer’
Meanjin/Brisbane producer Clovr is continuing his steady rise through Australia’s electronic scene with the announcement of debut album paper elephants, arriving 11 June, alongside new single…
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Album Reviews
Album Review: Things We Did on Earth – The Kilbey/Kennedy sonic spaceship alights in our universe, and they’re better than ever.
Over the years, writing about Steve Kilbey and Martin Kennedy has become a little like tracing constellations across different skies. Whether reviewing latter-day albums by The Church or…
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Album Review: Momen – ‘Sympathetic Resonance’: Enthralling merger of electronic, classical and jazz from new London-based duo.
In times of turbulence, we need music that keeps us centred and able to pause. That’s exactly what ‘Sympathetic Resonance’ the enthralling debut from London based duo Momen achieves. A…
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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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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 Gallery: Thundercat Turns a rainy Sydney Night Into A Human Jazz-Funk Spiral 13.05.2026
Rain hangs over Sydney all afternoon, turning the streets around the Hordern Pavilion slick and reflective, the kind of weather that makes the city feel slightly detached from…
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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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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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