After nearly thirty years making music and releasing eight studio albums, Queens of the Stone Age can afford to let loose a little. Their ninth album, Perfecth, is a deliberate play on words. Lead singer Josh Homme describes the process of recording the album as like kintsugi — the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery…
Scotland has never been short on musical talent, and The Snuts are in no danger of letting the side down. Their brand new album, Joy in Short Moments, is their fourth studio offering and the second released through their own label, Happy Artist Records (in partnership with Virgin Music Group). Formed in 2015, the band consists of…
Nu Zamrock opens with “Intro”, a conversation between Sampa the Great and her blood uncle George Kunda, set against instrumental music that builds slowly as they speak. Kunda was a founding member of the psychedelic rock band WITCH, and their conversation details how the group helped pioneer Zamrock in the 1970s, moving beyond covers of…
In 2024, Aussie singer-songwriter Gretta Ray’s life took a turn when she was abruptly diagnosed with a rare, life-threatening infection of the heart. Just two days after moving to London to continue exploring her flourishing music career, she was forced to shift both her life and career, redefining her priorities and reimagining the future that…
I first came across Dexter And The Moonrocks a few months ago, following the release of their hugely popular single “Freakin’ Out”. When I spoke to them around that time, the Texas rock group were riding high on its success, having recently quit their day jobs to fully commit to making music. With the release…
Listening to Somewhere Between, the sophomore album from Leeds trio Gotts Street Park, feels a little like stumbling upon a forgotten soul record in the back of a dusty record shop. The sleeve is worn, the corners are bent, and you have absolutely no idea what you’re about to hear. But as the needle drops,…
Good luck finding @ on the internet. In an age where discoverability, search engine optimisation and carefully curated online identities are practically prerequisites for musical success, Philadelphia duo @ (yes, just the symbol) have managed to make themselves almost impressively difficult to Google. Behind the spectacularly unsearchable moniker are Victoria Rose and Stone Filipczak, a…
Guitar bands are back. Perhaps they never really left, but if they did, Sydney five-piece kate moth might just be the ones to lead the charge. Arriving with the blistering confidence of a band far further into their career, No Key Sharp Enough is a six-track debut EP that is as immediate as it is…
There comes a point in life when the excitement of new beginnings becomes increasingly difficult to separate from the anxiety of leaving things behind. Careers, relationships, children, homes and the seemingly endless responsibilities of adulthood have a habit of arriving all at once. For Melbourne-born musician Tom Iansek, known under his solo moniker #1 Dads,…
If you’ve ever been lucky enough to spend time in NZ’s capital, Wellington/Te Whanganui-a-Tara, then you’ve likely discovered just how mighty and diverse is the creative culture that dwells within the city and surrounds. It’s a place that punches well above its weight given its relatively small size, and there’s no shortage of powerhouse artists,…
Ella Hooper is back with more Americana tunes on her third solo LP, Overnight Success. You may already be familiar with its four singles: “Growing Up is Hard to Do”, “I Got Eyes (On You)”, “When the Shit Went Down”, and, most recently, “Cowboy Man.” The opening track “Growing Up is Hard to Do” starts…
For the last two decades, Interpol have been creating moody, dark songs that have worked their way into our consciousness. The 2002 album Turn on the Bright Lights was a slow burn, with songs such as “Obstacle 1” and “PDA” becoming fan favourites over time. Original members Paul Banks on vocals and guitar and Daniel…
Movements have always made music that feels incredibly easy to fall into. They can be heavy without losing melody, emotional without being too dramatic and somehow make even their quieter moments hit just as hard as the big ones. Happier Now is no different. In fact, it might be one of their strongest records yet….
When Paris Paloma released her 2023 track ‘Labour’, it quickly sparked conversation online, becoming a powerful anthem for feminist advocacy and cementing Paloma as a key voice in the ongoing feminist movement. The track went viral online, amassing over 11 billion views across social media, and three years later, it still soundtracks so many ongoing…
Miss Kaninna’s BLACKPRINT mixtape is immediately unapologetic. From the opening seconds of “Chat My Shit”, she declares “I’m Indigenous so you know you gon’ be feelin’ this.” It’s clear straight away that this isn’t a mixtape interested in quietly introducing itself, but rather it kicks the door in. Across six tracks, BLACKPRINT feels like a…
UK artist Jorja Smith is back on the scene with her new album What Are The Odds. It marks her third studio album and her first as a fully independent artist. She’s a distinct voice in the UK scene, with her signature warm and smoky vocals. This album takes what Smith has done so well…
The hiatus that has kept The Temper Trap largely away from the public eye since 2018 has happily come to an official end with the release today of their fourth studio album, Sungazer. Taking much-needed time off to focus on their personal lives and other creative projects has certainly had no apparent side effects musically,…
When the Delta Blues emerged on the banks of the Mississippi at the end of the nineteenth century, something remarkable happened. Like the first evolutionary link to leave the ocean and walk on dry land, the traditional sounds of African American field workers would become the common ancestor from which an entire musical family tree…
After the release of their 2025 album Breaking Into Heaven, Gold Coast six-piece Selve are back with Breaking Outta Heaven, a companion EP made up of five tracks. Recorded during the same Abbey Road sessions that gave us Breaking Into Heaven, this definitely feels like an extension of the album, to the point where these…
For an album named RAGE, Kita Alexander‘s second full-length effort is remarkably gentle. That isn’t a criticism. In fact, it’s the album’s greatest strength. Rather than presenting rage as explosive, destructive, or all-consuming, Alexander approaches the emotion as something far more nuanced: a catalyst for growth, self-discovery, and necessary change. Across these songs, anger isn’t…
Muse’s new album, their 10th studio release, The Wow! Signal, lands this week, and we’ve been fortunate to receive an early listen. An unusual, narrow radio signal captured by the Big Ear radio telescope at Ohio State University on 15 August, 1977, inspired the album’s title. The 72-second signal (the longest window of recording available…
August Burns Red have returned with their twelfth studio album, Season of Surrender, and it’s proving be one of the strongest releases of their career. Their 2023 record Death Below was generally well-received by critics and fans, but Season of Surrender feels like a far more confident piece of work. So far, the response has…
Modest Mouse is an American rock band formed in 1993 by lead singer Isaak Brock. Their output is prolific, with well over a dozen albums and EPs released. In their latest release, An Eraser and a Maze, Brock explores the theory of time existing simultaneously. Which, of course, is an oversimplification of the fifteen tracks…
It’s a big week for Beatles fanatics. The newest addition to an extensive and mind-blowingly successful discography, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, transports listeners back to where it all began for prolific artist and Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney, in post-war Liverpool. The album gives listeners personal insight into Paul’s beloved memories of growing up, playing…
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…
There’s nothing you like to see more from a musician than someone willing to take a risk on a body of work; all the while managing to pull it off as if it wasn’t a risk at all. At a time when it feels like the most bankable, popular songs sound and feel very similar…
The easiest thing Basement could have done after eight years away was make another Colourmeinkindness. Instead of chasing nostalgia and recreating their past sound, they’ve come back with WIRED, their first studio album since 2018. It definitely still sounds like Basement, but entirely different at the same time- it’s sharper, more self-assured and serves as…
New Zealand-born and based artist Aldous Harding is set to release her fifth album, Train On The Island, on May 8. The 10-track album comes in collaboration with producer John Parish. The two have worked together across much of Harding’s musical career, on previous albums including Party (2017), Designer (2019) and Warm Chris (2022). The…
Californian Indie rock band Young The Giant return with their fifth studio album, Victory Garden, and it feels like they’re deliberately revisiting their roots. Following their ambitious 2022 concept album, American Bollywood, this record trades conceptual scope for a more familiar sound. Across the 11 tracks, they lean fully into the breezy indie rock sound…
There’s something deeply full-circle about where Melanie C lands with Sweat. A ninth studio album could easily lean into legacy, nostalgia, or safe reinvention – but instead, Sweat feels like a liberation. It’s a record powered by movement, memory, and a genuine love for the dancefloor, one that reconnects her with the euphoric chaos of…
