Premiering globally on April 15th, Margo’s Got Money Troubles, based on Rufi Thorpe’s bestselling novel, is as provocative as its premise suggests, but far more tender than you might expect. At its centre is Margo, played with striking vulnerability and spark by Elle Fanning, a young mother, aspiring writer, and recent college dropout navigating financial…
Jack Biilmann is an artist we’ve long admired at the AU review, so it’s a pleasure to be premiering his new single “Forbidden Fruit” ahead of its official release tomorrow. The Canberra-based songwriter is currently building towards his forthcoming sixth album, and on this latest taste, he leans into groove, swagger and a sense of…
Sydney artist, Ruby Fields, is going on the road for her national tour next week, bringing indie rock to stages across Australia with the release of her new album Small Achievements. The first night of the tour will coincide with the album release date, making for a very special listening party in Melbourne at The…
“No burnings at the stake. Just lighting more candles, driving away more darkness.” You may have heard that we live in the Age of Information. Naomi Alderman argues that we live an era called the Information Crisis. The internet has flooded us with more information than ever before; and with it, more opinions, ideas, opportunities,…
There’s no easy way to watch Wasteman – and that’s exactly what makes it so compelling. From the moment it locks you inside its grey, suffocating world, director Cal McMau makes it clear this isn’t a prison drama interested in comfort, catharsis, or even conventional morality. Instead, it’s a clenched, nerve-fraying character study that trades…
Best known for his turn as Jake Sommers – the leather-clad lead guitarist who defined a generation of ‘90s teen TV on California Dreams = Jay Anthony Franke has built a career that stretches far beyond the screen. For gamers, his legacy is cemented in a very different space: as the voice of J.C. Denton…
I grew up as not only a huge gaming fan, but a huge comic book fan too. As you would expect, those two worlds would collide in video game form numerous times over the years, and upon seeing the titles included in the Marvel MaXimum Collection, I was about as sold as you could be….
Vermont-born singer-songwriter Noah Kahan is heading back to Australia later this year, locking in four arena shows as part of his upcoming The Great Divide Tour and fans are already gearing up to win the Ticketek war. The announcement comes just over two weeks before his highly-anticipated fourth studio album, The Great Divide– out April…
Co-founders of Erth, Scott Wright (Artistic Director) and Steve Howarth (Head of Design), have brought their large scale, animatronic puppet dinosaurs to life in the world premiere of Erth’s Dinosaurs, now playing at the Sydney Opera House. Geared towards kids (5+) and families, Wright and Howarth really show their commitment to teaching young audiences about…
TISM (This Is Serious Mum) are a seven-piece anonymous alternative rock band, formed in Melbourne in 1982. Main members include vocalist/drummer Humphrey B. Flaubert, bassist/vocalist Jock Cheese, keyboard player Eugene de la Hot Croix Bun, and vocalist Ron Hitler-Barassi. Over the years the band has developed somewhat a fanatical following, including the “Victims of TISM”…
The son of acclaimed actor and filmmaker Andy Serkis, Louis Ashbourne Serkis is carving out a compelling path of his own with a performance that is as raw as it is quietly devastating. In Out There, he plays Johnny, the teenage son of a rural farmer (Martin Clunes) who is pulled into a dangerous county…
There’s something kind of fitting about an Australian country artist and a Tennessee native meeting in Nashville and realising they’ve got more in common than not. That’s exactly what happened when James Johnston linked up with rising US star Chase Matthew for their new single “Smoke I’ve Known.” What started as a social media connection quickly…
I’ve tested around ten robot vacuums over the past few years, trying to make sense of just how many brands have hit a market that’s reaching the kind of hyper-competitiveness we used to see with noise-cancelling earbuds. Ecovacs is a clear market leader in this category, and in Australia, it’s one of the most dependable…
There’s a certain kind of cultural blind spot that happens when something is packaged “wrong.” A film flops, critics shrug, and everything attached to it gets quietly filed away as disposable. That’s exactly what happened to Grease 2 – and, by extension, to “Cool Rider,” performed by Michelle Pfeiffer. But strip away the baggage of…
Penny Tangey is no stranger to the publishing world, with four novels for young readers to her name. She’s also no stranger to the world of libraries. But her latest novel – set in the busy East Melbourne Library – is brand new territory for Tangey, who (one hopes) has never had to solve a…
We’ve added ten new tracks to our Discovery Playlist on Apple Music and Spotify this week, including three premieres (one carried over from last week). Leading the charge is our Track of the Week, Lucky with “Perfect Pain”. Taken from her debut EP Biting Heels which is also released today, “Perfect Pain” is a quietly…
Adelaide fuzz, drone and noise band Night Rites was formed by three mates, Peter, Adam and Rhys, in a backyard studio during COVID. They initially had an indie psych sound, but after switching roles—Peter to drums, Adam to guitar, and Rhys on vocals—it led to a more droning style. Influenced by bands like The Black…
The BOGOSHORTS – Bogotá Short Film Festival continues to cement its status as one of the world’s leading short film showcases, drawing more than 46,000 attendees to nearly 300 activities and presenting over 430 films across 120 screenings in its previous edition. As an official qualifying event for the Academy Awards®, Spain’s Goya Awards, and…
The Adelaide Beer & BBQ Festival (ABBF) has been a staple event in the brewing community for a decade at the Adelaide Showgrounds. Between 2015 and 2025, it’s grown to be the largest brewing event of its kind in Australia, with more brewers under one roof than any other festival in the country. It’s survived the…
There are some bands that don’t just play a show so much as pull the room into their orbit, and The Black Crowes have always sat firmly in that category. From the moment the lights dropped at the Enmore Theatre, there was a sense that this wasn’t going to be a polite run-through of classics,…
MAY-A dropped into Sydney’s Liberty Hall on her The Goodby (If You Call That Gone) Tour. Showcasing songs from her just released 2026 debut album The Goodby (If You Call That Gone) and genre-defying hits combining with her absolutely brilliant band to deliver a sonic set of pop songs to her adoring fans. A future…
You’ve probably killed minotaurs in a whole bunch of games. Pretty standard enemy, right? Well, the team at Artificer are switching that little fact up with this new release. Now, instead of you hunting a terrible monster through its den, you’re the monster doing the hunting. And there are a lot of unprepared adventurers for…
There’s something inherently voyeuristic about A Love Like This – a film that invites us to peer through the cracks of a relationship that perhaps isn’t meant to be seen. Set over one sun-drenched but emotionally volatile weekend in Malibu, the film follows Paul and Leah as they attempt to exist, however fleetingly, as a…
There’s a quiet confidence to A Love Like This that sneaks up on you. What begins as a sun-drenched romantic escape gradually reveals itself to be something far more introspective – an intimate, emotionally levelled portrait of two people trying to hold onto something that perhaps was never built to last. Directed by John Asher,…
There’s a very specific kind of cinematic daydream that films like Under the Tuscan Sun perfected – sun-drenched escapism where heartbreak is healed by good wine, better views, and the promise of reinvention. You, Me & Tuscany clearly wants to bottle that same vintage. The problem is, somewhere along the way, it forgets that charm…
Liz Byrski’s twelfth novel, Lost and Found, feels like the perfect bookend to her memoir, Remember Me, published in 2000. Described as “true story of love lost and found”, the book charted Liz’s own reunion with a boyfriend whom she had not seen since she was eighteen, some thirty-seven years later, and the way that such…
Nomada Studio, the Spanish indie team behind the watercolour marvel Gris, cemented their place among gaming’s finest emotional storytellers with 2024’s Neva. A harrowing, stunning tale of Alba and her wolf companion navigating a corrupted, dying world, it felt like a fully realised artistic statement – something complete. So when Neva: Prologue was revealed during…
We’ve had the pleasure of reviewing multiple gaming headsets over the years, but I will admit, it’s nice to be reviewing a LucidSound headset again for all the nostalgia this brand brings me personally. We’re checking out the LS10P wired gaming headset here, which serves as an entry-level headset geared towards younger or more casual…
There’s always something special about getting to premiere a debut album — that first full-length statement where a band’s identity, instinct and ambition all come into sharp focus. Today, the AU review is excited to premiere Kiss Me Like Goodbye, the debut album from North Queensland alt-rock outfit Slippery Gypsy, a record built from moments…
It can’t be easy opening for a band as huge as Biffy Clyro, and it certainly must be additionally daunting when your set is filled with technical issues. That said, indie punk/rock duo Teenage Joans took it all in their stride, entertaining the crowd with enthusiastic banter and updates about the inner shambles of their…
