Portland psych-surf outfit Trabants sound like they’ve stepped out of a lost grindhouse reel on “Fuzz 4 Daze”, a gloriously overdriven instrumental that crashes together garage rock swagger, surf cool and biker-movie menace. Premiering today on the AU, the track lands officially on May 28 ahead of the band’s forthcoming album Mirage, due June 12….
Cult art pop band Sparks featuring brothers Ron Mael and Russell Mael performed in the Joan Sutherland Theatre as part of Vivid LIVE at Sydney Opera House. Russell moved across the stage with impossible energy, while Ron sat motionless behind the keyboard, expressionless, intimidating and hilarious all at once. The contrast remains one of live music’s great…
A doorway appears in the basement of a furniture showroom, but what lies beyond it in Backrooms is far more unnerving than a simple descent into another space. Expanding on the internet-born phenomenon that has fascinated audiences for years, filmmaker Kane Parsons transforms familiar environments into something deeply alien – endless corridors of fluorescent-lit emptiness…
When Starfield first came out in 2023, I was so excited to play the game. I mean, I love open-world games, and I love space, so it felt like the perfect match for me. But I didn’t have an Xbox console or a desktop reliable enough to run it, so I abandoned the chance of…
Thanks to Madman Films, we have 10 double in-season passes (Admit 2) to see Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas in the feel-good story about music, self-respect, friendship, and the price of ambition, Power Ballad, in Australian cinemas from May 28th, 2026. When Rick (Paul Rudd), a past-his-prime wedding singer, meets fading boy-band star Danny (Nick Jonas)…
For all the moral panic that surrounded Jackass in the early 2000s – the think pieces about stupidity, the copycat fears, the handwringing over masculinity run amok – the franchise has quietly aged into something far more fascinating than anyone could have predicted. Rewatch it now – which you may well do in the lead-up…
It’s clear that disabled author Olivia Muscat knows just how frustrating and inaccurate some portrayals of disability (and especially blindness) can be. Equally as clear is her passion for telling a more accurate narrative, with all the real-life frustrations and unexpected aspects that can come with it. It’s that own-voices approach that makes her new…
The colder weather is setting in, and with it, perfect reading weather. But with so many amazing new releases hitting the stands all the time, it can be hard to know where to begin. Never fear, as the books team from the AU Review are here to tell you all about the books you may…
KINGSWOOD’s seventh album Midnight Mavericks is a love-letter to country rock and all things Americana. The album kicks off with “Two Lovers”, a solid opener that features Steph Greenwood on vocals alongside lead singer Fergus Linacre. The rhythm guitars paired with a slide-guitar riff show off the band’s country-rock style, and sets the scene for…
June on Prime Video arrives with a packed slate spanning live sport, romance, fantasy, horror and prestige drama. Leading the month is every match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 streaming live, exclusive and free for Australian audiences from June 13, while BookTok-fuelled romance adaptations Every Year After and Your Fault: London promise…
Melbourne’s favourite makers of boozy Italian good times are back with a new flavour that’s impossible to ignore. Tommy’s Booze – the locally made liqueur brand born from friendship, hospitality and a whole lot of fruit – has unveiled Kiwi, a limited-edition release that might just be its boldest concoction yet. Sweet, tangy and unapologetically…
The 2026 HSBC Spanish & Latin American Film Festival is ready to sweep Australian audiences away on a vibrant cinematic journey this winter, returning with a line-up bursting with passion, rhythm, heartbreak, suspense and soul. Running across Palace Cinemas, Palace Nova and Luna Palace Cinemas from June to July, the festival’s 29th edition brings together…
The latest update to our Discovery Playlist is here; with ten new tracks added across Apple Music and Spotify, including one exclusive premiere from earlier in the week. Our Track of the Week is Swapmeet’s “2 C U”, with the Adelaide outfit delivering a hazy, lofi slice of restrained infatuation that instantly got under our…
André Øvredal has proven himself capable of delivering horror with atmosphere and restraint. Whether it was the creeping dread of The Autopsy of Jane Doe, the gothic ambition of The Last Voyage of the Demeter, or the gateway scares of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, his work usually contains at least a few…
For Josh Heuston, romance is less about grand gestures than the rare comfort of being fully seen. It’s a sentiment that feels fitting for Off Campus, the buzzy new Prime Video college drama that has quickly become the internet’s latest obsession. Based on the bestselling book series, the show blends the heightened emotion of a…
Back in February, the AU review premiered Katy Denney’s “Bad At This”, introducing readers to a songwriter whose blend of indie folk intimacy and emotionally rich storytelling immediately struck a chord. Now, we’re thrilled to once again be showcasing new music from the Sydney artist, premiering her latest single “Flowers in My Hair” ahead of…
Don’t get me wrong, there are some really good cameras out there, and a purpose for every type of camera. But for most of us, you might not be so surprised to find there’s a decent option in your pocket. That’s the one, your phone. If you have a smartphone that’s generally receiving new apps…
PlayStation have just announced via a recent PlayStation.Blog post, that we’ll be getting another State of Play on the morning of Wednesday, the 3rd of June. The whopping 60-minute showcase will supposedly focus on several new and existing releases, with a fresh look at Marvel’s Wolverine kicking things off. We’ve outlined all the Australian times…
At 9.05pm, the lights dimmed and giant orange silky moving ‘blob-ject’ made its way up a short set of stairs and onto the stage. Feet jumbling along with just enough skill to remain upright, before ‘woosh!’ the big reveal! Eat your heart out Taylor Swift, no elaborate pully systems required – this is how the…
Last night, Audrey Hobert packed out Melbourne’s Forum for her first of two sold-out headline shows on her first proper Australian tour, Staircase To Stardom. There’s been a recent trend of international acts not having an opener, and while this is definitely disappointing, it felt fitting for a midweek concert on a freezing night. The…
For a franchise built on cinematic awe, Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu arrives with surprisingly small ambitions. Expanded from the enormously successful Disney+ series The Mandalorian, the film technically delivers everything fans have come to expect: dusty space-western imagery, blaster-heavy action, adorable Grogu reaction shots, and endless lore connective tissue. What it struggles to…
When Nintendo first revealed Yoshi and the Mysterious Book for the Nintendo Switch 2, it sparked a lot of curiosity. As I noted in my hands-on preview last month, what seemed like a simple romp has proven to be an engaging evolution for the series. Now that I’ve spent significant time fully exploring Mr E’s…
Astral People have announced Move My Way, a brand new twin-city festival set to arrive this October, taking over Carriageworks in Eora/Sydney on Saturday 3 October and PICA in Naarm/Melbourne on Sunday 4 October. Headlined by Ezra Collective, Freddie Gibbs, Kokoroko and Sampa the Great, the inaugural festival is a community-focused gathering grounded in comfort,…
PAX Aus has announced that globally renowned game developer and MMORPG leader Holly Longdale will headline PAX Aus 2026 as this year’s Storytime speaker, sharing stories about shaping some of the world’s most defining games. With more than 20 years of experience, she’s an absolute veteran in the field and has had a hand in…
In the world of Spider-Noir, shadows stretch longer, dialogue crackles with old-Hollywood rhythm, and even the city itself feels suspended somewhere between pulp detective fiction and comic-book mythology. But for stars Lamorne Morris and Karen Rodriguez, grounding that heightened world meant focusing less on stylisation and more on humanity. Based on the Marvel comic Spider-Man…
Ben Reilly’s version of Spider-Man has already lived through the kind of disillusionment most superhero stories spend entire trilogies building toward. By the time Spider-Noir begins, the idealism is gone, the city has worn him down, and what remains is a weary private investigator muttering lines like, “With no power, comes no responsibility” – a…
There’s a certain poetic irony in the fact that Delta Goodrem‘s true debut single – “I Don’t Care” – is the one that rarely gets invited into the conversation. Overshadowed by the seismic impact of “Born To Try” and the era-defining success of her debut LP Innocent Eyes, this 2001 release has long been treated…
For what it’s worth, I’ve never been to Japan, but have certainly fallen in love with their cars over the years. Growing up, the JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) scene was massive in the early 2000’s here in Australia, and I actually knew a fair amount of people, be it family or friends, with these cars…
Since the launch of The Dark Pictures Anthology games, developer and publisher Supermassive Games has taken us through ghost ships, witch trials, and ancient temples. But with their latest entry, Directive 8020, the series finally blasts off into the dark, unforgiving vacuum of space, and the result is definitely worth checking out. With small, dark…
The weather remained foul for the final day of The Great Escape, but spirits were high as we headed into the home stretch of another brilliant week on the south coast. Saturday belongs to the Australian contingent at the beach stages, with artists taking over all three venues and flying the flag in style. One…
