Sleeping in a cave, swimming in the sky: Morabito Art Cliff in Uluwatu, Bali

I slowly open my sleepy eyes, and the first thing I see is a tilted mirror above me reflecting the soft rhythm of the ocean’s waves. I sit up in my gold-framed king-sized bed, mesmerised by the breathtaking view of the Indian Ocean unfolding through floor-to-ceiling windows. I can’t help but wonder if I’ve ever…

Read more
George Thorogood

Second day of Bluesfest 2025 kept the momentum with Gary Clark Jr, Toto, George Thorogood and more (18.04.25)

One thing that you can’t control is the weather. With recent heavy rains in northern NSW, many were worried that this year would be another muddy Bluesfest. However, the weather has been glorious for the last week, including the Easter long weekend. With gravel being laid to ensure no muddy patches, festival goers this year…

Read more

Interview: Ashley Greene and Shawn Ashmore on their new horror film It Feeds, the emotional challenges of the genre, and their own personal ghostly encounters

It Feeds follows the harrowing story of a young girl who insists that a malevolent entity is feeding on her. Ashley Greene (Twilight) stars as a clairvoyant therapist who must confront her own past traumas to save the girl before it’s too late, with Shawn Ashmore (X-Men) as the anguished father desperately fighting to protect his daughter…

Read more
Tom Morello

Bluesfest day one packs a punch with Tom Morello, Ocean Alley, Tones and I, and more (17.04.25)

This year could possibly be the final Bluesfest, but based on the overwhelming support for the Byron Bay festival makes it feel that next year’s event is possible. On opening day, three stages were in operation. Sydney band Velvet Trip opened the Crossroads stage with a psych infused indie rock set that had the crowd…

Read more

New Music Discoveries 18th April: Yumi Zouma, Folk Bitch Trio, Loaded Honey, and more

Happy Easter from all of us at the AU. We’re bringing the good vibes into the long weekend with ten more freshly released tracks added to our Discovery playlist on Spotify and Apple Music. This week returning New Zealand alt-pop band Yumi Zouma take home our Track of the Week with their new single “Bashville…

Read more

Series Review: The Narrow Road to the Deep North is a towering achievement that revels in its atmospheric brutality

Though there’s usually always a sense of unflinching violence that laces the filmic work of director Justin Kurzel (Snowtown, Nitram, The Order), his debut detour into episodic television, The Narrow Road to the Deep North, is considerably more blunt in its brutality.  Perhaps because the prose at the series’ center – Richard Flanagan‘s winning novel…

Read more

Interview: The Narrow Road to the Deep North writer Shaun Grant and producer Jo Porter on bringing the acclaimed novel to the screen

Based on Richard Flanagan’s acclaimed 2013 novel, The Narrow Road to the Deep North is a savagely beautiful five-part series charting the life of Dorrigo Evans (played by Jacob Elordi as a young man and Ciarán Hinds as the older iteration), through his passionate love affair with his uncle’s wife (Odessa Young), his time held…

Read more

Should you stream Netflix’s Ransom Canyon this Easter weekend?

The type of show where the melodrama is ripe, the ranch settings are lush and the aesthetically pleasing cast go by such names as Yancy and Staten, Ransom Canyon has the right temperament to be the next easily digestible Netflix streaming obsession.  The type of generic show people put on to not pay attention to,…

Read more

Photo Gallery: Tom Morello + Big Noter – Enmore Theatre, Sydney (16.04.25)

Tom Morello – lead guitarist from the legendary bands Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave and Prophets of Rage – delivered a raw energy master class at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre last night. Morello is widely regarded as one of the most innovative and influential guitarists of the modern era, blending heavy metal, punk rock, funk, and…

Read more

Why you should know Lisa: The Coachella stage stealer who’s so much more than what you saw in The White Lotus

Going into last weekend’s Coachella (the first of its two planned weekend events), it seemed that Lady Gaga was inevitably going to steal all the expected focus.  And, certainly, the Grammy-winner did the most, with a near-20 song set that largely celebrated her new album (Mayhem), but served as a memory lane stroll for her…

Read more

Scary Kids Scaring Kids and A Skylit Drive announce Australian tour

Scary Kids Scaring Kids have just announced a Aussie tour set for later this year, and they’ll be bringing fellow post-hardcore outfit A Skylit Drive along for the ride. During the 2009 Warped Tour, lead singer Tyler Stevens took some time away, with genre legends including Vic Fuentes (Pierce the Veil) and Craig Mabbit (Escape…

Read more

The Superjesus’ Sarah McLeod on new album, upcoming tour, and women in music: “Never pull the ladder up after you”

The Superjesus burst onto the Australian rock scene in the late 90s, fronted by the powerhouse vocals and captivating stage presence of Sarah McLeod. Debut EP, Eight Step Rail, quickly gained traction, followed by the critically acclaimed debut album Sumo, cementing their place as a force to be reckoned with. Known for their blend of…

Read more

It’s Colman versus Cumberbatch in biting first trailer for The Roses

The War of the Roses, a 1989 satirical black comedy from Danny DeVito which starred Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner as a warring married couple and the bitter, fatal divorce that followed, never seemed like the most obvious choice to garner a remake.  But here we are, over three decades later, with Benedict Cumberbatch and…

Read more

Film Review: Warfare is an immersive, panic-inducing film experience

As much as Warfare is detailing a true story during the events of the Iraq War in 2006, Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland‘s panic-attack of a movie goes beyond merely being “based on true events.”  Instead, it’s noting itself as a film based on “the memory of the people who lived it.” With that, the…

Read more

Album Review: Torres and Julien Baker’s Send A Prayer My Way marks their soulful entry into the country music genre

The country renaissance isn’t over just yet! After teasing a collaboration with their emotion-laden single Sylvia, Torres (the musical project of Mackenzie Scott) and Julien Baker’s album Send a Prayer My Way marks their soulful entry into the genre. The 12 track album traverses downtown bars and the wide open road as the pair croon…

Read more

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle brings the goods to the PlayStation 5

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was released on the Xbox Series X and Series S late last year and was pretty much one of the best games of 2024. It might have taken a few extra months, but the experience is now finally available for PlayStation 5 owners, with some fancy new visual upgrades…

Read more
Andy Kent

Interview: You Am I’s Andy Kent on the Hi Fi Daily Double Down tour: “no one had a heart attack. Bless them!”

Australian alt-rock legends You Am I are currently mid-way on their national Hi Fi Daily Double Down tour, celebrating thirty years since the release of their ARIA award-winning album Hi Fi Way. On this tour, they are performing in full Hi Fi Way, and the follow-up, Hourly, Daily, which received six ARIA awards.  Hi Fi…

Read more
Harley Luscombe

Exclusive Single Premiere: Harley Luscombe “Lose My Soul” (2025)

Harley Luscombe is a Melbourne-based singer-songwriter who is very much in the early days of his solo career. With just two releases under his belt so far, we are super pumped to be premiering his latest single, “Lose My Soul”, ahead of its release on Friday. Harley has a voice that is rich, earthy and…

Read more

Is K-Club Ubud Bali’s best eco-luxury stay? We stay the night to find out

The most magical places aren’t always found on bustling city streets. Sometimes, you have to dart down back alleys or venture along winding country roads to uncover the real hidden gems — and Bali is full of them. Despite having visited the Island of the Gods eight times, K-Club Ubud had somehow completely eluded me….

Read more

Interview: Luke Arnold on returning for Scrublands: Silver; “It’s about making the inevitable conclusion not too obvious.”

In the brand new season of Scrublands, it’s been a year since the life changing events of Scrublands and award-winning investigative journalist Martin Scarsden (Luke Arnold) has returned to his coastal hometown, Port Silver, WA, to set up a new life with partner Mandy Bond (Bella Heathcote). When he arrives to find his childhood friend…

Read more
Anisa Nandaula

Comedian Anisa Nandaula gives insight into her comedy journey

Anisa Nandaula is in the midst of her first Australian comedy tour entitled You Can’t Say That. She reflects on her journey from Uganda to Rockhampton, where she expected a multicultural paradise, but instead found cows and cultural confusion. We had an opportunity to chat with her and discuss her comedy experience. Hi Anisa. How…

Read more

Everything we learned from director Ryan Coogler, star Michael B. Jordan and the cast of Sinners from the global press conference

“You keep dancing with the devil, one day he’s gonna follow you home.” Written and directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Ryan Coogler, Sinners presents a new vision of fear.  Starring Michael B. Jordan in a dual role, Academy Award nominee Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O’Connell, Delroy Lindo, Li Jun Li, and Wunmi Mosaku, the film details…

Read more

Interview: Richard Roxburgh and Peter Greste on bringing The Correspondent to the big screen; “There has to be some deeper understanding of what it is, or was, that journalists actually did before the world changed.”

While covering the news desk in Cairo for a colleague over the Christmas holidays, Australian journalist Peter Greste was arrested and accused of terrorism. He became a pawn in the middle of a deadly game full of corrupt officials and ancient rivalries.  The subject of his own worldwide news story, where only his wits and…

Read more

Interview: Director Kriv Stenders on bringing Peter Greste’s true story to the big screen with The Correspondent; “If the film makes us think for a moment, it’s done it’s job.”

While covering the news desk in Cairo for a colleague over the Christmas holidays, Australian journalist Peter Greste was arrested and accused of terrorism. He became a pawn in the middle of a deadly game full of corrupt officials and ancient rivalries.  The subject of his own worldwide news story, where only his wits and…

Read more

Film Review: The Correspondent is a stark Australian thriller grounded by the understated work of Richard Roxburgh

Having already carved out a sense of the absurd regarding the legal system with their work on the TV series Rake, star Richard Roxburgh and writer Peter Duncan take on a far more serious aspect of such risibility in The Correspondent through the incarceration of Australian journalist Peter Greste and the dubious charges of terrorism…

Read more

Shane Told on 25 years of Silverstein: “That first time in Australia, I’ll never forget how welcome we felt”

For over two decades, Canadians Silverstein have been a driving force in the post-hardcore scene, delivering emotionally charged music that continues to resonate with fans around the world. From their breakout record When Broken Is Easily Fixed to genre-defining albums like This Is How the Wind Shifts, Silverstein has remained true to the raw emotion…

Read more

Cooking meals has never been easier with the VQ Laura Ashley 6.5L Slow Cooker

Sometimes, the last thing I want to do when I come home from a long day of work is cook dinner. So, the easy way out for me has been ordering takeout or eating whatever I can string together in my pantry in about 15 minutes. But the best part about having the VQ Laura…

Read more

High Potential Series Review: Why you should be watching Kaitlin Olson’s highly entertaining crime show

[This episode contains spoilers for the final episode of High Potential] If you haven’t been watching High Potential, the latest crime drama out of America created by Drew Goddard, then the good news is, you can now binge-watch all 13 episodes of season one on Disney +. The season finale, which aired on Thursday April…

Read more

Film Review: The Comic Shop; Independent dramedy has charm, but needs a little fine-tuning

A sweet film with a talented cast and an evident love for the aspiring creative, The Comic Shop is well-meaning in its temperament, but a little less confident in its execution as it injects a dramatic streak that doesn’t flow with its initial personality. The titular comic shop is Mike’s World, a small venture that…

Read more
Disney Wonder Cruise Ship - Old Mate Media

Cruise Review: Is Disney Wonder “the happiest place on Earth”?

The Disney Wonder cruise ship experience may be designed with kids in mind, but it delivers for all ages. Admit it, you want to go to Disneyland! We all do. No matter how old you get, there’s a place inside all of us where some Disney story, or character, or song, has burrowed into our…

Read more