Year: 2020

Brisbane trio WALKEN have returned with their blend of alt-rock, punk, and power pop. Latest single “Fever Dreams” boasts a seriously catchy synth hook, and harkens back mid-2000s pop-punk in all the right ways. Consisting of Matt Cochran (vocals/guitar), Patrick Shipp (guitar/backing vocals) and Beej Vaughan (drums/backing vocals), WALKEN have steadily made a name for…

People have been looking towards their own backyard when it comes to travel this year. That isn’t just a metaphor for the increase in demand for domestic travel, but a literal look at how we can turn sections of our own house into slices of escapism. Even the very act of moving the ol’ BBQ…

With the positive outlook of domestic travel in Australia, Virgin Australia has announced expanded capital city connections and frequencies on some key routes. This includes more services between Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth, as well as the resumption of routes between Brisbane-Adelaide, Brisbane-Canberra, Brisbane-Perth, and Sydney-Perth. The additional services will see Virgin Australia double current…

I think we can all agree that the PS5 reveal event went way harder than it needed to. Presenting one of the strongest launch line ups for any console in industry history, Sony is looking to assert market dominance early. Below, in order of appearance, is every single game Sony had to talk about today….

Based on the 2001 book series by author Eoin Colfer, Disney have finally released their latest adaptation onto their streaming service. The film was originally delayed from an August release last year to April 2020. Then the Covid-19 pandemic caused a closure of cinemas globally. Now, finally, the film finally receives a release on Disney Plus…

The day has finally arrived: Sony is ready to talk about the PlayStation 5. The show-and-tell has been a long time coming. Between bowing out of E3 and the outbreak of a global pandemic, an event that must have wrought havoc on their production pipeline, Sony have been biding their time. Missives were light on…

Although the launch was delayed more than once, our first run at Google’s new Android 11 beta is finally here, giving a glimpse at some new features expected to roll out across compatible smartphones throughout the year. And first thing’s first; while it’s available to download now, the current build is only available for Google…

Borderlands remains one of the most important staples in recent gaming memory, as the granddaddy of looter shooters. Sure, many have learned, but none have quite mastered this unique blend of first-person gunplay, humour and exploration in the same way that Borderlands does. By now, most of us scavenged the land of Pandora, in search…

There’s no denying that COVID-19 has had a huge impact on the Australian music scene. Festivals have been cancelled or rescheduled, and countless tours have been grounded. Even though restrictions are starting to lift, there remains a great deal of uncertainty about the situation and the pandemic’s lasting impact on the country’s music and arts…

Melbourne singer-songwriter Elsie Lange has released her new single, “Adelaide”. The track is the first single from her debut solo EP Talk To Me, which is set for release in August. Recorded with artist/producer Calum Newton, “Adelaide” grapples with the notion of being confused and far from home.  Although she is firmly in solo singer-songwriter…

The travel podcast Jetlag has today returned for a second season, its first episodes in more than two years, to bring to light different stories from an industry at a standstill due to a global pandemic. For the first episode, which is co-hosted by the AU’s founding editor Larry Heath, and digital marketer (and former…

Set in the years immediately preceding and immediately after the American Civil War, Afia Atakora‘s debut novel Conjure Women is an exploration of both what it meant to be a woman and what it meant to be a slave in the Antebellum South. Conjure Women is the story of Rue, a ‘conjure woman’ in a small community made up…

Take your taste buds to the middle of the French Riviera and plant yourself in one of the world’s most luxurious destinations. That’s Monaco of course, the iconic city-state of every well-heeled traveller’s dreams and home to some of the ritziest bars in Europe. Don’t let the elegance fool you though; Monaco is serious about…

The Last of Us Part II is almost upon us (finally!). One of the most anticipated video games of the last seven years, it promises to take the story of Ellie and Joel in an entirely new direction. Its soundtrack features licensed tracks from folk acts like Crooked Still and Shawn James, but the main…

After months of binge-watching Peaky Blinders and only wearing pants with elasticised waists or let’s be honest, no pants at all. I knew it was time to start salvaging my beach bod. After all, how could I expect Cillian Murphy to run away with me when I’m sat on the couch eating dry noodles and…

There’s an immediate punch to Sports Team‘s sound that intrigues you from their opening notes. A certain level of brashness, and a fast-and-loose approach to their debut album Deep Down Happy that sets you in step to instantly love the release. The English six-piece have built a loyal and passionate following on UK shores. That has allowed them…

It’s been a sad (though perhaps inevitable) run of news this week for some of our favourite music festivals. Billboard are reporting that iconic Californian Festival Coachella are set to officially cancel their rescheduled 2020 dates, along with their sister festival Stagecoach. This follows on from Splendour in the Grass in Australia, who officially announced…

Etihad Airways has announced a new travel voucher system that may save big on future flights when international travel (hopefully) ramps up later this year. The UAE carrier has introduced the new concept to encourage travellers to start planning their next trip, where prospective passengers who purchase an “Etihad Travel Voucher” between 10th and 24th…

Blue River hail from Cornwell in the UK, and are known for their indie surf-punk rock. They’ve just released another punchy single, called “Tetsuo”. This is Japanese for ‘Clear Thinking Man’. It’s a song about global warming and the effect that it has on us. “Tetsuo” is a cracking song; the vocals snarl then caress, the…

With the complete lifting of domestic travel restrictions in New Zealand, the country’s flagship carrier has revealed what to expect when flying Air New Zealand at “Alert Level 1”. The new measures have been shared to prep passengers for the months ahead and the “new norm” on board, and hopefully let Aussies know what to…

Less expensive smartphones are getting better. That’s been the sentiment for the past few years now, with more of the big brands realising that mass market phones should be focusing on offering as much value as they can. We’ve seen it recently with Oppo’s recent string of A series phones, and we should be seeing…

2006’s DS classic Clubhouse Games was a huge hit, to absolutely no one’s surprise. The perfect marriage for handheld gaming, it stylishly bought together a comprehensive index of 42 classic card and board games which have been etched into history for a good reason. Everything from Chess and Blackjack to Ludo and Solitaire was included,…

We are delighted to be premiering the video for the latest release “Pressure”, from Gold-Coast indie-quintet Pure Milk. It’s a song with an upbeat groove to it, tackling the anxieties which we all face day-to-day. Neat guitar riffs, sparse but well-placed harmonies and deft production leave you wanting more. This song has an endearing quirky…

Much has been said about the professional-grade Theragun product line and its use for percussive massage therapy. Increasingly, we’re starting to see more professionals take advantage of the easy-to-use devices, particularly now that the 4th generation has been released. But given that these products are publicly available, should the at-home user pay attention as well?…

With intrastate travel opening up for New South Wales, intrepid travellers keen to explore their own backyard are starting to look further afield when it comes to road trips and staycations. With the state having so much to offer, a new platform has been put together by Destination NSW highlighting 213 ways to explore this…

The grace feature of the Oppo A52 2020 is its A$299 price tag. That should already be an attractive proposition without even looking at the spec sheet, given the company’s reputation for efficiency when it comes to the more wallet-friendly ranges. Seeing as they’ve been dominant in this market so far, it’s not much of…

As with many cities all over the world, Sydney hosted a Black Lives Matter protest on Saturday night. It’s estimated over 20,000 attended the march, with approval being granted for it to proceed by the NSW Court of Appeal just prior to it commencing. The NSW Government initially banned the rally on grounds of public…

With a new EP just a few weeks away, Adelaide’s Wing Defence have dropped their latest teaser – the pop-punk infused “Relocate“.  We might have to wait until July for Friends, but this catchy track is should tide us all over nicely! The indie duo, consisting of Skye Walker and Paige Court, say: “This song…

Huawei is bringing back the popular Matebook X Pro with beefed up specs to the Australian market, placing a larger focus on integration and beefed up specs. Following the recent launch of the P40 series, the Chinese tech company is making it more attractive to jump into its ecosystem with this 13.9-inch device. The 2020…

When Xenoblade Chronicles was originally released for the Nintendo Wii in 2010-12, it felt like a tectonic shift in the way we talked about JRPGs. Suddenly, people were talking about the niche genre’s shiny new, universally acclaimed story as the genre’s pinnacle, as if Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest franchises never existed. The deep-world of…