Music

Melbourne-based singer/songwriter Sarah Kabbani creates music that feels like its natural home is the big stage. Her latest tune, “Losing You,” is about to hit the airwaves. It’s an intoxicating mix of pop, dance, and indie-electro elements. We’re thrilled to be premiering it ahead of its release on Friday. “Losing You” is an absorbing tale of…

BLOKBSTR are a band that are probably hoping not to be pigeon-holed. The three-piece from Sydney gave us a bit of everything. Samples, instrument swaps, wacky dancing and lots..and lots of voice reverb. Their fun pop-rock translates into an entertaining opening to the night, with a crowd they dubbed as the biggest they’d played enjoying…

Teary-eyed delegates. Two feet lodged on a sticky floor. Purple-pink haze on stage. Singer in a black and white polka-dot puffy dress. A red Nord keyboard. I am amongst a crowd of fans, creatives, and industry giants at Eclipse in Fortitude Valley for Heleina Zara’s last BIGSOUND show, trying to name 5 things directly in…

Seymour Centre’s contemporary music program, Seymour Nights, returns for another season with live performances from some of the most vibrant voices and artists in Australian music and beyond. Championing local artists and new sounds, performances will take place in Sydney’s Seymour Courtyard, with a diverse repertoire of new music for visitors to enjoy. And it all…

Hailing from the outer suburbs of Naarm/Melbourne, self-described emo-folk artist Bec Sykes has been steadily crafting a discography of lo-fi indie gems, from 2020’s breakout Edithvale to 2021’s Getaway and 2022’s At Least. Each release has sharpened her ability to deliver immediately endearing tunes, building quiet anticipation for a full-length project that could expand on…

Alt-pop sensation Isabel LaRosa will be bringing her Heaven Doesn’t Wait Tour to Australia in February 2025, and has just announced that Sydney has been added to the run of shows in Melbourne and Brisbane. Isabel will be playing at the beautiful Liberty Hall on Thursday the 27th of February. The Cuban-American singer, songwriter exploded into…

For the fourth year of Froth and Fury, the festival moved down the road to Hart’s Mill. One assumes that it was due to logistical reasons; not having to close off roads, two stages side by side, and more space. There are still three stages, with the Froth and Fury stages alternating shows, with the…

Adelaide is the Australian UNESCO City of Music, which may go part of the way to explain why there is so much musical talent in South Australia. The SA Music Awards, held at the Dom Polski Centre this year, is a way of recognising talent, established, new and emerging. With the support of several Government,…

From the despair and isolation of Covid-19, Americana heartland-rocker John Calvin was able to find a silver lining. “Rest of My Roads” is the opening track from John’s upcoming album, Greener Fields & Fairer Seas due out on the 24th January, 2025. It’s a song about coming to terms with one’s mortality, and we’re delighted to…

Hanabie are a self described Harajuku-core all girl band from Tokyo, Japan. They played their first ever headline tour in Australia at a packed out Sydney’s Liberty Hall to a mix of head banging metal fans and harajuku fashionistas. They totally impressed with their energetic, colourful and powerful display of upbeat nu-metal. Tickets for their…

New York pop-punkers State Champs have been making waves since 2010 and on Friday, they finally released their much-anticipated fifth studio album. For a group that’s been churning out anthemic, sing-along tracks since their debut The Finer Things, this self-titled record feels like a natural progression. It’s a blend of looking back to their roots…

Andrew Hozier-Byrne, known professionally as Hozier, is an Irish musician, singer and songwriter. You may know him from the viral song “Take Me to Church”,  but he is so much more than that. On Friday evening at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, he bought a full repertoire of songs from his collection of folk, soul and…

The growl from the stage at the Enmore as the early crowd shuffled in was nothing short of ferocious as abrasive punk lords, C.O.F.F.I.N (Children of Finland Fighting in Norway) warmed up the almost capacity crowd. The Sydney group formed almost 20 years ago and continue to make visceral Australia punk-rock peaking just last year…

If the remaining members of the Beastie Boys ever wanted to recreate the music video for “Intergalactic” surely Chris Martin wouldn’t mind stepping in for the late, great MCA. I’m not sure when Coldplay became obsessed with the galaxy but the band has been doing this titanic, leave-the-world-behind super-pop thing for many years now. It’s…

Melbourne artist Eugene Fox has just released his debut single; a stirring folk track titled “Miss The Goalie”. The track oozes with the charm of clever songwriting and sweet, plucky guitar melodies, and was written and recorded in his home studio in the Northern suburbs of Melbourne. We reached out to Eugene to discuss the…

Formed in Ballarat in 1987, The Mavis’s carved a solid following in the Aussie rock scene. Led by Becky Thomas (a.k.a. Beki Thomas, Beki Colada) on vocals and keyboards and her brother Matt Thomas on guitar and vocals, they originally called it quits back in 2001, after launching hits including “Cry” and “Naughty Boy”. They’ve…

Coldplay brought their Music of the Spheres World Tour to Accor Stadium in Sydney last night. The stadium was a riot of colour and overflowing with love, making for a spectacular night out. Three more shows are to come in Sydney, but they are all sold out. A full review is on its way. Bruce…

Alternative indie legends from Boston, USA, Pixies have announced exclusive intimate live shows in Melbourne and Sydney this November. Pixies are in Australia supporting Pearl Jam on their current East Coast Australian tour. Image by Pete Dovgan Fans will be treated to hearing live their latest album release The Night The Zombies Came (2024) plus…

Sweden’s punk rock legends Viagra Boys totally destroyed Sydney’s Enmore Theatre with a performance some are already hailing as “gig of the year”. Lead singer Sebastian Murphy was fierce, lively, charismatic and backed equally by the band. Superbly supported by local Sydney punk outfit C.O.F.F.I.N. (Children of Finland Fighting in Norway). Pete Dovgan brings your…

Andr is a musician from Taiwan that we caught up with recently at SXSW Sydney for the Taiwanese Beats Showcase. She shares her excitement about performing at Sydney and the enthusiastic crowd. She discusses her musical journey, starting with learning guitar in junior high and writing songs at 15. Her upcoming album, “Under Your Bed,”…

Historically Hayley Mary has never failed to deliver. One of the best vocalists of the past 15 years or so, she has always crushed a live show. Heading out on her own on the back of her debut solo album Roman XS, she brought the goods once more to Sydney’s Waywards club. After a couple of…

A sinister wall of synths and strings shoots from the tiny Sydney Opera House forecourt stage. One of music’s most formidable creatives is cheering himself on as the flickering orange glow illuminates his half-cocked cackle, making him look like a mad scientist as he fiddles away with his equipment and twists his arms into the…

The Jungle Giants took their regional tour to Dee Why RSL on the Northern Beaches of Sydney on Thursday night.  It was a fantastic show, and the crowd were well and truly up for it. There were plenty of Halloween costumes, and the band was on fire.  There were some uber-fans present, plenty of love…

The poison chalice of rock and roll superstardom is the seductive, yet false, promise of eternal youth. Like lightning in a bottle, the volatile mix of youth and adolescent rebellion—capturing the pulse of a generation at precisely the right moment—feels unstoppable. Immune to time. But inevitably, that image cracks, and even the greats confront the…

Thom Yorke is on his debut solo tour of Australia, and tonight was his first Sydney show, at the iconic Sydney Opera House Forecourt.  It was a brilliant set to a packed audience, with a number of Radiohead songs thrown into the mix. Bruce was there to bring you these images. Review is on its…

Today Sarah Blasko has released her sixth studio album, the beautiful I Just Need To Conquer This Mountain. It’s a deeply personal and cathartic album, as Sarah reflects on goodbyes and new beginnings. I had a chat with Sarah about the genesis of the album and it’s influences, her upcoming tour and much more. Links for…

We’ve slipped into November and are barrelling towards Christmas at an alarming speed. In between gorging on leftover Halloween treats we’ve added ten more tracks to our Discovery Playlist on Spotify and Apple Music. Along with two singles we exclusively premiered earlier in the week, we also have “Only A Fool”, our Track of the…

For those who love music, beer and skating, this two day free event at Manly Beach this weekend – tonight and tomorrow, November 1st and 2nd – may be just the thing for you. Young Henrys and Volcom are hosting the event at Hotel Steyne, with DJ sets from Dune Rats, The Buoys, Haiku Hands…

You just love seeing artists make massive leaps forward from one album to the next. Here on her second album Stop and Smell the Lightning, Annie Hamilton has done just that. An album filled with vast arrays of whirling sounds and samples, both human and not, Stop and Smell the Lightning is hard to describe,…

With the release of the much-anticipated EP Boy’s In Love, Melbourne/Naarm’s Keelan Mak returns to the forefront of Australian pop armed with a fresh brand of club-ready pop tunes primed for summer listening. Proving a worthy successor to 2022s Brave Face EP, the strong introductions from singles “Drift” and “Straight with Me” were excellent showcases…