In the early 2000s, Canadian group Hot Hot Heat, led by frontman Steve Bays, were tearing up dance floors with their unique blend of indie rock, dance-punk, and post-punk revival. While they never achieved overwhelming commercial success, the band maintained a devoted fan base right up until they called it quits in 2016. This week,…
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Sydney 5-piece Goons, have their latest single ready to hit the airwaves, “Bella”. This follows on from their debut release, “Home Run”, which was released earlier in the year. “Bella” is a rocking tune with a great message. It opens with some big guitar licks before lead singer The Great Lummox brings his a-grade vocals…
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Gabrielle Carey may have written more in the field of biography, but is best known as the co-author of Puberty Blues, written alongside Kathy Lette. Her latest offering, Only Happiness Here: In Search of Elizabeth von Arnim combines the straight accounting of the twentieth century writer’s life with a form of literary analysis and memoir that has…
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Not content with dominating the market for sports earbuds, Jabra has gone and put out what is easily one of – if not the – best business-minded pair of headphones of 2020. That’s no surprise given that the company isn’t at all new to this game, and their previous noise-cancelling enterprise headsets have received plenty…
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Adelaide-born Alex Hosking is a name you might not have heard, but you’ll know her songs. As a songwriter with credits alongside Vera Blue, The Preatures, The McClymonts, M-Phazes and Jess & Matt, she’s now dishing out more tracks from her solo project. Having amassed impressive international airplay and charting success with her feature on…
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This Saturday, 3 October, the AU review is presenting a livestream of Tia Gostelow, from 10AM AEST in collaboration with The New Colossus Festival as part of their ongoing program of live performances. Gostelow was initially booked to perform at The New Colossus Festival in New York City in March but was unable to do so…
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Becky Rhodes is an indie-pop singer/songwriter based in Melbourne, and this week releases her debut EP, Wonder. Rhodes grew up in Queensland, and attended the QLD Conservatorium of Music, before relocating to Melbourne to further her career. This EP has been in the works for quite some time, with Rhodes lining up Mark D’Angelo of The…
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Is $379 too much to spend on a smart toothbrush? As we continue to look at smart home essential for the AU review, we were bound to run into the crossroad of hygiene and technology at some point. That brings us to Philip’s Sonicare DiamondClean 9000, an app-connected electric toothbrush that’s making some ambitious claims…
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Keeping travel dreams alive and setting goals has never felt more important. We can all agree that 2020 has been an unfortunate year so far, and almost every facet of daily life has been wrought by this ongoing global pandemic, the start of which now feels like forever ago. The arts has been one of…
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There’s a scene in the second episode of The Walking Dead: The World Beyond where our four teenage protagonists are hiding from “empties” (walkers, zombies) in a treehouse, chewing through the short time by playing Monopoly and passing a bowling ball around while bellowing “Big Moe” – the ball’s given name. It’s amongst the most…
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As we move away from winter and into spring, those who love a good, hard spirit are looking for something a bit more vibrant on the palate. Although given that we haven’t quite left the erratic weather behind, something mature and full of enough fire to keep the chest cosy at night. That’s a delicate…
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The Billymil family have lived in the small town of Darnmoor for three generations, and expectant parents Celie and Tom are preparing to welcome the newest addition. But tensions between Darnmoor’s Indigenous and settler families are rising. And the divide between the white run town and the Campgrounds, where the Billymils call home, is growing….
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Singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and 5 Seconds of Summer stalwart Ashton Irwin is all set to release his debut solo album, Superbloom at the end of October. He’s teased the album’s imminent arrival with the release of the single “Skinny Skinny”. I don’t know what I was expecting the debut solo single from Irwin to sound like….
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Keeping travel dreams alive and setting goals has never felt more important. We can all agree that 2020 has been an unfortunate year so far, and almost every facet of daily life has been wrought by this ongoing global pandemic, the start of which now feels like forever ago. The arts has been one of…
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The multi-talented singer/songwriter/producer Hayden Calnin released his latest EP, Soon Forever last month. It’s a collection of four tracks, each lush and atmospheric soundscapes. Today we have the exclusive video premiere for the final track on the EP, the epic “As I Exit Parts I & II”. This track is unusual and worthy for its…
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Keeping travel dreams alive and setting goals has never felt more important. We can all agree that 2020 has been an unfortunate year so far, and almost every facet of daily life has been wrought by this ongoing global pandemic, the start of which now feels like forever ago. The arts has been one of…
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Music fans will often find their favourite tracks are bigger than their genre. In fact, some music is so big it permeates into an entire subculture. Australian DJ, Steve Wide celebrates this with two sharp new books, A Field Guide to Punk and A Field Guide to Post-Punk and New Wave. Both of these are…
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“Air Forces” is the new single from 23-year-old Muslim poet and songwriter Mustafa. The single, which is built around samples of a Sudanese tribal chant, follows the success of his debut single “Stay Alive”. Further, “Air Forces” marks the continued exploration of a musical style that Mustafa describes as ‘inner city folk music’. The move…
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Want the short and sweet verdict on the Sony WH-1000XM4 over-ear headphones? They are exceptional, and by far the best I have ever owned. Although you probably already expected that. With the fourth-generation of the company’s insanely popular wireless headphones dominating 2020, Sony has once again come out and reclaimed the throne, defending against the…
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The ever-creative, dessert-minded folks at Black Star Pastry may be most famous for the juicy flavours of watermelon and strawberries, but they never shy away from the quintessential hit of chocolate now and then. That’s most evident with their latest creation, the dramatic and hugely indulgent “Chocolate Mirage”. Adding to their already stacked and varied…
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Writer/director Suzanne Lindon stars as Suzanne, a 16-year old student who is starting to feel a sense of ennui as she trudges through her daily routine of high school adolescence. Her mingling with her friends is becoming tedious and boring – evident in an amusingly awkward party sequence – and her outside life feels constrained…
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The Godfather is my favourite film of all time, and it was my love of gangster films that led me to Mafia. Released in 2002, it is one of the most underrated and nuanced mobster stories of that or any hardware generation. Since then, the series has both vanished and returned to the fold, along…
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If you haven’t eaten at Sandoitchi, now is the time to do so, as they are offering up a tasty discount on their menu. Situated in the heart of Darlinghurst, the cafe opened in 2018 and has become renowned for their delectable Japanese inspired dishes such as their katsu sandos and bowls. As of next…
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Neo-soul singer-songwriter/producer Ange performed an intimate COVID-friendly show at The Vanguard in the lead up to the launch of her new single “Dead to Each Other” (featuring Chelsea Warner) on Wednesday night. The new track is available this Friday 25th September on Spotify, be sure to check it out! Photographer Belinda Dipalo was there to…
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Melbourne-based alt-folk artist Riley Pearce has today released a new 6-track EP titled Maybe I Can Sleep It Off. The EP sees Pearce take a more of a band-like approach – with Pearce himself noting that it is quite a diversion from some of his previous releases. “Maybe Dad’s messages of “needs more chorus” or…
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North Carolina singer-songwriter Dylan Gilbert continues to tease the release of his forthcoming solo album, I’ll Be The Lakebed, with the release of a new music video. Gilbert, a founding member of Charlotte-based genre-bending punks Hectorina, teamed up with director and performer Sarah Ingel for the music video for “Good News”. A week out from…
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Today Dublin singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Dunluvly drops his new single, “Too Late”. The single is the first release from his forthcoming EP Plethora. Written, recorded and produced by Dunluvly in his home studio, the single is a delightful blend of the traditional and contemporary. You’ve got that beautiful fingerpicked guitar, so obviously rooted in the…
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Huawei is known for rewarding high price tags with ambitious spec sheets, at least attempting to somewhat re-balance the tug-o-war between power and value. This year, that’s been most clearly demonstrated with the ridiculously pricey P40 Pro+, asking a lot, but giving just as much. Balance is hard to achieve the more the price hikes,…
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Skullcandy has long been a reliable brand when it comes to personal audio devices, but truly wireless earbuds are still a relatively new line for them with the original Push released in 2018. This year, we’ve got the Push Ultra, sitting at at A$249.95, only slightly cheaper than the current price for Sony’s gold-standard WF-1000XM3…
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After the insanity that was Preorder Day, we thought it might be a good idea to put together a list of all the Xbox Series X accessories you can preorder in Australia. Bare in mind, stock appears to fairly limited for launch so don’t be too disappointed if you miss out, and know that you…
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