Books Editor. An admirer of songs and reader of books. Simon has a PhD in English and Comparative Literature. All errant apostrophes are his own.
AU favourites Howlite return this week with their sublime new single “Everything Will Happen”, the title track of the alt-pop trio’s forthcoming third EP. Set for release tomorrow, we’re excited to bring you this exclusive premiere of the single a day early. “Everything Will Happen” follows on from the release of singles “Still I Find”…
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Last month saw Australian musician and writer Ziggy Alberts release sun memos, his second collection of poetry. The collection, was self-published, through his family founded independent imprint Commonfolk Publishing. It follows the release of Alberts’s first collection brainwaves, which was released in 2021. As you would expect from someone who has made a name from…
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The winners of the Indie Book Awards 2024 have been announced this evening. The awards, which are picked by indie booksellers, celebrate the best Australian books from the last year across six categories, including fiction, non-fiction and young adult. An overall “Book of the Year” is then selected from the six category winners. This year…
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With Christmas less than a week away, at the AU we’ve got to the task of agonising and arguing over our end of year lists – best albums, best films, best games, and of course best books. The Books team have taken a look over the year’s releases and compiled a list of some of…
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Last week saw WA indie rock band The Deenys release their impressive debut EP Alford Way. Recorded across Sumo Sound Studios and Conor Lawson’s studio in Perth, Alford Way sees the expat rockers exploring a variety of pertinent and relatable themes, including young love, mental health struggles and disillusionment. The EP balances those potentially contrary…
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I’m not entirely sure how it’s the second week of October. But, here we are! We’re edging ever closer to Christmas and right into the busiest weeks in the publishing and bookselling (and book buying) calendar. Expect a glut of gift books, celebrity memoirs and celebrity penned fiction hitting the shelves any day now. With…
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Somewhat inexplicably we are over half way through the year. This means, for publishers at least, it’s time to start thinking about Christmas, with September often seeing some of the year’s biggest titles drop. We in the AU Books Team aren’t thinking about Christmas just yet, but we are here to bring you some more…
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Bonded Jacky is the musical project of Maddie Ballard, a Los Angeles-based, queer musician and singer-songwriter, and self-described gangly girl with unmistakable schoolboy energy. She’s also an up-and-coming talent, releasing a slew of singles last year (including the AU Discovery playlist featured “Didgeridoo”) before releasing her debut EP back in February. This week she is…
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Fresh from the release of their new album But Here We Are last week Foo Fighters have announced their return to Australia and New Zealand this summer, with a run of stadium shows across the two countries from November through to January. The band were last in the country for a one off show in…
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Melbourne-based alt pop trio Howlite make a welcome return this week with their beautifully euphoric new single “Still I Find”. We are pleased to bring you this exclusive first listen to the single before its official release on Thursday 25th May. “Still I Find” is the band’s first release since 2021 and their pandemic-shaped hiatus….
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2023 is flying by and somehow it’s the other side of Easter already. So we in the AU Books Team are back with some more of our most anticipated books of the year; this time for April through to June. With so many books published each month it would be impossible to cover them all….
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Happy New Year! 2023 is already in full swing and we in the AU Books Team are back and ready to look ahead at some of this year’s most anticipated books. With so many books published each week, month and year, it’d be impossible to read them all. So this is only the briefest snapshot…
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2022 has been a great year for settling in with a good book and escaping the world outside. We’ve reached that part of the year where we all start agonising over our ‘lists’ –best albums, best films, and of course best books. We in the Books team have looked back over the year’s releases and…
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Growing Up Wiradjuri, published earlier this year, is a new junior non-fiction anthology from Magabala Books. Edited by the prolific and acclaimed Wiradjuri writer and activist Dr. Anita Heiss, the anthology collects the personal stories of eight elders. Each of the eight included writers are Uncles and Aunties who came of age in New South…
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We’re now edging ever closer to Christmas. That means we’re now entering into some of the busiest weeks in the world of publishing and book selling. Expect to see lots of gift books and themed releases on the shelves in the next few weeks. With so many books being released each month, we in the…
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Author Chris Flynn was the mastermind behind my favourite novel of 2020, Mammoth. Now he’s back with a new collection of short fiction/stories, Here Be Leviathans. And, it’s quite probably my favourite book of 2022. Collected over a period of ten years, the stories in Here Be Leviathans show an author who is full of…
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This week sees the release of “Cone of Shame”, the third and final single from Velcro Dog’s forthcoming debut album, Misanthropology. Ahead of its official release tomorrow we’re pleased to bring you this exclusive first listen to the dark and folksy track. The emotive track is a stripped back affair, with a minimal acoustic arrangement…
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Last week saw Jennifer Down announced as the winner of the 2022 Miles Franklin Literary Award, for her new Bodies of Light. In doing so she has become one of the youngest winners in the award’s sixty five year history. Down and Bodies of Light were picked from a shortlist of five, which included an author of…
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Somehow we’re halfway through the year. Which means the publishing world is beginning to start gearing up for Christmas. Soon, the shelves are going to be inundated with biographies and celebrity memoirs. We’ll also start to see the release of new books from the literary world’s commercial big hitters. As always with so many books…
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We’re welcoming in July with ten new tracks added to our Discovery playlist on Spotify and Apple Music, including one track we exclusively premiered earlier this week. The new single from Broken Bells, “We’re Not In Orbit Yet” heads up the playlist as our Track of the Week. “We’re Not In Orbit Yet” is the…
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This week saw Boo Seeka finally release his long awaited second album, Between The Head & The Heart. The album saw him working alongside producer Matt Bartlem, with creative input from Jay Bainbridge, Luke Palmer, Ian Peres and impending tour mate Hayden James. The result is an album that is rich in creativity, with Boo exploring…
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Today we’re stoked to bring you the exclusive premiere of “Spines”, the captivating new single from Sydney-based alternative pop artist Darcy Lane. Officially releasing tomorrow, “Spines” is a delightfully dark and hypnotic slice of pop. From a relatively intimate opening of bass paired vocals, the track builds and swells strongly, before really bringing it home…
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Melbourne-via-Darwin artist Local The Neighbour a.k.a. David Quested recently unveiled his latest single “Point Guard”. A shimmering slice of warmth and positivity, the track pays tribute to loved ones, and was written for his girlfriend as an appreciation of their relationship. There’s even a charming Super 8 style accompanying music video that was created by…
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For the last time this month we have updated our Discovery playlist on Spotify and Apple Music with ten new tracks. Our Track of the Week is “Cracker Island”, the brand new track from Splendour bound Gorillaz, featuring Grammy award winning Thundercat. Upbeat, energetic, a little bit funky and delivered with swagger “Cracker Island” is…
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Brisbane-based singer-songwriter Georgie Neilsen returns this week with her rousing swaggering new single “The Last Time I Felt Better”. We’re excited to bring you this exclusive first taste of the single before its official release on Friday. “The Last Time I Felt Better” is a rousing and rich slice of indie pop. It all starts…
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Last week saw Los Angeles alt rockers The Wrecks release their sophomore album Sonder. A couple of years in the making, the album builds upon the solid foundation of their debut album Infinitely Ordinary, released in 2020 and their earlier EPs. On Sonder the band have teamed up with producers Westen Weiss (Camila Cabello, Post…
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Ten more tracks have been added to our Discovery playlist on Spotify and Apple Music; including our Track of the Week: “Real” by Boo Seeka. “Real” is the latest, and final, track to be revealed from the electro pop artist’s new album Between The Head & The Heart, which is out at the end of…
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Friday saw Auckland-based queer alt-pop artist Jack Panther release his new EP: why don’t you come over? The EP, his second, confirms Panther’s position as one to watch; and one of Antipodean Alt Pop heirs apparent. Delivered in style, with a wonderful boldness, the sophomore releases features a captivating mixture of candid lyricism and lush,…
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Australian singer, writer, producer and engineer Aaron Lee a.k.a Airports has this week released “Second 2 Breathe”. “Second 2 Breathe” is Airports’ first solo release of 2022, and promises to be just the first release from a larger body of six tracks set for release this year. The single builds upon Airports’ trademark style, which…
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Eric Terino is a singer-songwriter based in the New England region of America. He has just released his third album, the beautifully haunting Innovations of Grave Perversity. The album, which errs towards the folkier end of the genre spectrum, features a whole host of sonically interesting instruments, and musicians from around the world. To celebrate…
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