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…
Brisbane’s winter renaissance continues, with Open Season unveiling its program for 2026. The annual eight-week, city-wide run is once again set to turn the river city into a live music playground. Running from May 25 to July 25, the sixth edition of the festival brings together more than 100 artists across over 10 Brisbane venues,…
Scottish rock band Biffy Clyro returned to Sydney to smash out a set for the ages. The Glaswegians didn’t disappoint, living up to their reputation as one of the current great UK live bands. Playing songs from their classic albums including their hit Opposites and latest release Futique. Supported by locals Teenage Joans. Pete Dovgan…
Soaking in really hot, mineral-stacked water with a dozen naked strangers is one of the most important traditions in Japan. And that’s saying a lot in a country that has turned intentional stillness into a life-giving art form, whether it’s at a gentle tea ceremony or along a quiet path in a scrubby forest. This…
For more than a decade, Lincoln Lewis has been a familiar presence on Australian screens, but his journey from eager newcomer to seasoned performer has been anything but static. Starting out at just thirteen with early roles in The Sleepover Club, Mortified and H2O: Just Add Water, Lewis quickly built a foundation that would lead…
Sometimes the wrong place is exactly where you’re meant to be. That idea sits at the heart of You, Me & Tuscany, a sun-drenched romantic comedy that leans into chaos, coincidence, and the courage it takes to follow your instincts – even when they lead you somewhere wildly unexpected. Produced by hitmaker Will Packer, whose…
There’s something deeply fitting about Rebel Wilson making her directorial debut with a musical. Joyous, scrappy, and unmistakably Australian, The Deb feels like a love letter to the kind of films that shaped her – the bold, eccentric classics like Muriel’s Wedding, Strictly Ballroom, and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert that didn’t…
Towards the end of the new Australian musical The Deb there’s an uplifting song-and-dance sequence to a ditty titled “Pretty Strong”, and that’s an acceptable enough term to describe Rebel Wilson‘s directorial debut. The comedienne makes for a serviceable presence behind the camera as she injects an infectiousness and often-home-grown-specific humour into the proceedings of…
There’s always something special about premiering a debut — that first moment an artist steps out into the world and introduces themselves on their own terms. Today, the AU review is thrilled to bring you that moment for Naarm/Melbourne artist Hannah Potter, premiering both her debut single and video for “Snow Day” ahead of its…
We’re thrilled to be premiering the new single “Come On Back For Good” from St. Louis alt-country artist Adam Gaffney, heading overseas for this raw, remorse-soaked road song ahead of its release this Thursday — a track that leans into self-reflection and hard-earned honesty. Adam Gaffney writes country songs that don’t look away from the…
For anyone who grew up on a steady diet of Saturday morning television, Jennie Kwan is a face – and voice – you’ve likely carried with you far longer than you realise. From her breakout as Samantha Woo on California Dreams to voicing fan-favourite warrior Suki in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Kwan’s career has quietly…
There’s something almost fitting about how The Boys bows out: loud, messy, confrontational, and completely sure of itself. Season 5 doesn’t attempt a reinvention. Instead, it doubles down on everything that made the series essential viewing in the first place, delivering a finale that feels both earned and unflinchingly true to its identity. Developed by…
It’s been years since TikTok and Instagram made curated visual storytelling part of everyday life. Stories and reels have become the two most common methods of self-expression, and this has required people to think differently about content. Can you even remember what travel was like before we had new and creative ways to tell a…
