British pop icon Lily Allen will return to Australia for a national headline tour, delivering a run of highly anticipated live shows that will include a special featured performance of her acclaimed rendition of West End Girl. Lily Allen emerged in the mid-2000s as one of the UK’s most distinctive pop voices, blending sharp social…
Few artists have reshaped popular music as decisively as Britney Spears. From the moment she debuted in 1998, she redefined what a pop star could look like, sound like, and represent. Her influence is embedded in the DNA of modern pop – in vocal styles, production trends, choreography, and the marriage of image and music….
Nick Cave’s Wild God tour stop at Alexandra Gardens last night unfolded like pure theatre, with the sun dropping over the river as the atmosphere shifted from a glowing golden hour to something electric and reverent. From fans reaching out at the edge of the stage to the almost mythic presence of Nick Cave himself, it…
We’re seeing out January with ten more tracks added to our Discovery playlist on Spotify and Apple Music; including two we had exclusive premieres for earlier in the week. With their UK and European tour imminent Newcastle’s Rum Jungle take out Track of the Week with their new single “Coal Dust”. The single finds the…
Today, the AU review is proud to exclusively premiere “Pocketful”, the brand new single from DUB ZOO, ahead of its official release on Friday, January 30. A vibrant and uplifting cut, the track sees the collective lean fully into hip-hop and reggae fusion—doing so with heart, history, and heavyweight collaborators along for the ride. Serving…
Anberlin’s rise was never part of a grand masterplan. Formed in Winter Haven, Florida in 2002, the band had signed to a label and released their debut record within a year, quietly laying the groundwork for what would become one of the most enduring catalogues in modern alternative rock. But it was 2005’s Never Take…
The feeling most people get who listened to Last Dinosaurs as they came into the Australian indie scene in the early 2010s is that of nostalgia and euphoria. Their music has always felt alive, with the well known dreamy soundscapes of their music defining the last decade. After five incredible studio albums, the Brisbane trio…
Emma Bass returns with the official video for her intoxicating single “Sweet Dejavu”, premiering exclusively today on the AU review. Released two weeks ago, “Sweet Dejavu” captures the magnetic tension between desire and distance — that fleeting moment where passion burns brightly, even when you know it won’t last. Sonically, the track sits firmly in…
I can’t help but think of Nicholas Hope in Bad Boy Bubby every time I watch a video of Nick Cave performing. The oddly obscure “classic” is the kind of hard-watch that leaks from the more unflinching corners of the Australian psyche. But unlike similarly disquieting films, such as Snowtown and Picnic At Hanging Rock, Bubby’s…
Irish singer-songwriter CMAT (real name Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson) commenced her set singing from the balcony at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre and then lit up the stage with an energetic performance of classic country heartbreak and indie pop, with a distinctly Irish sense of humour. Supported by Australia’s own Holiday Sidewinder, the former lead singer of indie…
Writing tributes isn’t standard fare for the team at the AU review, but the untimely passing of Midnight Oil’s Rob Hirst demanded an exception. Several of the team were lucky enough to get to know Rob and his family over the years, and we wanted to take a few moments to reflect upon and honour…
Now that we know that she’ll be down here as part of this year’s Bluesfest, it’s no surprise to see neo-soul queen Erykah Badu announce a few sideshows up and down Australia’s east coast to support her visit. Presented by Bluesfest Tours, the Walk Between Worlds tour will see Erykah Badu will touch down in…
Madchester legends Happy Mondays return celebrating 35 years of Pills ‘N’ Thrills And Bellyaches across Australia. Led by the ever-unpredictable Shaun Ryder and charismatic dancing percussionist Bez, Happy Mondays will deliver a career-spanning set packed with era-defining hits including Step On, Kinky Afro, Loose Fit and tracks that helped define the sound and attitude of…
Welcome to our first playlist update of the year, with ten new additions landing in our Discovery Playlist on Apple Music and Spotify. Leading the charge as Track of the Week is “Things We Wanna Say” from Pacific Avenue, setting the tone for what’s shaping up to be a huge year ahead. “Things We Wanna…
After years of waiting, Harry Styles is returning to the stage in 2026 with Together, Together – a seven-city residency tour hitting Amsterdam, London, São Paulo, Mexico City, New York, Melbourne, and Sydney, running from May 16th to December 13th, 2026. These will be his only live shows worldwide in 2026, with huge highlights including…
At the turn of the millennium, Victoria Beckham‘s debut solo album arrived carrying an unfair amount of baggage. By 2001, the post-Spice Girls landscape had already begun sorting its winners and footnotes, and “Posh Spice” was too often framed as an image-first participant in pop rather than a musician with something to prove. Listening back…
Way back in 2010, a short lived BBC TV series called Whites featured a song called “Song For The Dead” over its opening and closing credits. The song was by Alexander Wolfe from his debut album Morning Brings A Flood, and I was immediately enthralled. 16 years later I continue to follow his musical endeavours…
Newton Faulkner’s eighth studio album OCTOPUS marks a bold new chapter for the multi-platinum-selling singer-songwriter and is his most adventurous work to date. Over five years in the making, the album signals a refreshed sense of artistic freedom, blending influences from funk, R&B, soul, and Latin grooves. We chatted to him about the making of…
It has been a minute—or perhaps closer to twenty years—since I last stepped foot into a university bar, but the vibe is one that seemingly holds true through the ages. Walking through the stunning, rain-washed grounds of Sydney University as the bells of the War Memorial Carillon rang out and the sun shone finally, there…
American rock band Wheatus on their 25th Anniversary tour played Sydney’s Manning Bar. The main man of Wheatus, Brendan B. Brown with band and backup singers put on a great show, requesting songs and chatting to the audience and finally delighting everyone with the final song, the classic hit “Teenage Dirtbag” with the crowd singing…
Viagra Boys returned to Sydney to play the Hordern Pavilion on The Infinite Anxiety Tour. The Swedish post-punk rockers led by Sebastian Murphy delivered a killer set of brute-force rock and roll that pumped up the crowd and they reacted the only way that made sense, bodies colliding, crowd surfing, sweat flying, fists pumping. Supported…
On a Saturday night with some of the worst weather Sydney has seen in a while, The Last Dinner Party put their best feet forward and delivered an intricate, fun and overwhelmingly brilliant set as part of their From The Pyre world tour. Returning to Australia 18 months on from their inaugural tour, the English…
The Last Dinner Party delivered an electrifying and theatrical performance in Sydney at the TikTok Entertainment Centre on a very wet Saturday night. Frontwoman Abigail Morris was magnetic, prowling the stage with preacher-like intensity, her voice swinging from operatic to punkish in the space of a verse. Around her, the band moved like a small…
Cavetown has always felt like a project built on connection rather than spectacle. Over the years, Robin Skinner has quietly grown from uploading songs online to becoming one of the most trusted voices in indie music, all without losing the intimacy that made people gravitate towards his work in the first place. Now, with a…
After more than a decade away from releasing a full-length studio album (the last being 2015’s Breathe In. Breathe Out.), Hilary Duff is rejuvenating her place in pop music with Luck…or Something – a record that feels less like a nostalgic throwback and more like a necessary evolution. Scheduled to arrive on February 20th, via…
Madison Beer has spent much of her career being underestimated, written off as an influencer-adjacent pop star, praised faintly for singles but rarely credited for her artistry as a whole. Locket, her third album, should finally put that misconception to rest. It’s a deeply introspective, emotionally cohesive body of work that rewards close listening, offering…
The authentic 90s hip hop sound is at its most powerful when De La Soul are on the mic. Ever since their classic debut, 3 Feet High and Rising, three eccentric jazz rap purveyors have been a guiding force in discussions on what’s real and what isn’t in the world of hip hop. De La…
ARMY! Do we have news for you. Back in 2014, we were lucky to get Australia’s first interview with the K-Pop group who became a sensation around the world, BTS. And now for the first time since 2022, the group are back and ready to tour the world through 2026 and 2027 across 34 regions…
Last month, I had the privilege of sitting down in Tokyo, Japan with Orono from Superorganism, and her Dad – the namesake of her new project Nose Noise‘s 2025 LP TOM. Orono and I last formally sat down back in 2018 while they were on ground at The Great Escape in the UK, ahead of…
When J.Lo arrived at the turn of the millennium, Jennifer Lopez was already famous – but fame and longevity are not the same thing. Released as her sophomore album, J.Lo carried a weighty question: was Lopez a genuine pop force, or merely a celebrity moment stretched into a record deal? Twenty-five years later, the answer…
