News: Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory announce Australian tour to support self-titled debut album.
Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory attracted our attention earlier this year with the release of their self-titled debut album (see our review here). It represented a whole new journey for Van Etten, collaborating with a band of musicians closely for the first time, and was a triumph. I wrote: Van Etten’s indelible songwriting …
Live Review + Gallery: Dark Mofo Festival – Crime & the City Solution make an exclusive and evocative mid winter trip to the Odeon Theatre, Hobart, 13 June 2025
Crime & the City Solution‘s recent live performances have been a testament to their enduring relevance and artistic evolution. Fronted by Simon Bonney, the band has seamlessly blended their post-punk roots with a more intimate, acoustic approach, captivating audiences across Europe in late 2024. They brought their set to Australia for an exclusive gig at …
Live Review + Gallery: The Horrors put on an incandescent performance at the Odeon Theatre, Hobart, 12 June 2025
In the heart of Hobart, at an exclusive gig in Hobart at the very edge of the world in the middle of winter and under the enigmatic glow of Dark Mofo’s crimson lights, The Horrors delivered a performance that was nothing short of a sonic séance. The Odeon Theatre, steeped in history, became the crucible …
News: Rowena Wise and Didirri announce Australia tour following the release of their elegantly beautiful single ‘No Cure For Love’
We here at the Antipodean outpost of Backseat Mafia have admired Didirri ever since 2018 when we covered his single ‘Formaldehyde’, and we confess we are a little late to the party with his most recent release, the elegantly beautiful duet ‘No Cure For Love’ with fellow indie artist Rowena Wise. ‘No Cure For Love’ …
Track: Naarm/Melbourne’s HighSchool make a welcome return with the louche ‘149’ and news of debut album on the way.
Following up their magnificent EP ‘Accelerator’ last year (see my 9/10 review here), the mighty HighSchool return for 2025 with the vibrant single ‘149’ through [PIAS] Australia. With their trademark insouciance and laid back delivery, HighSchool continue to represent some of the best indie music coming out of Australia at the moment. ‘149’ captures an element of the …
Track: Boorloo/Perth’s EDIE releases the buoyant indie pop track ‘Girl’s Girl’.
Boorloo/Perth artist EDIE today unveils the catchy slice of indie pop that is ‘Girl’s Girl’; a blinding ray of Western Australian sunshine that has an underlying feisty message about the worst kind of betrayal – that from your own gender: Was I a competition?Was I a threat?Cos I don’t understand how it got this badIn …
Track: Indie Naarm/Melbourne superlative group Bleak Squad (Adalita, Mick Harvey, Mick Turner and Marty Brown) announce debut album ‘Strange Love’ and unveil the frosty single ‘Lost My Head’.
You can’t get much more super than news of the new group, Naarm/Melbourne’s Bleak Squad, consisting of living legends Mick Turner (Dirty Three, Mess Esque), Mick Harvey (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, PJ Harvey, The Birthday Party), Adalita (Magic Dirt) and Marty Brown (Art of Fighting). It’s a match you would only normally fantasise …
Track: ‘I Was on That Roof Once’ – New Zealand’s epic Ringlets bounce back with third single ahead of album release
New Zealand’s Ringlets recently announced the release of their second album, with the cute title ‘The Lord Is My German Shepherd (Time For Walkies)’ for 27 June 2025, and have unveiled the third thrilling single ‘I Was on That Roof Once’. It follows the earlier singles ‘Heavenly Wheel’ and ‘Street Message’ (reviewed by me here and here …
News: The legendary David Byrne announces new album ‘Who Is The Sky?’ with the irrepressible and buoyant single ‘Everybody Laughs’ as a taster and massive world tour.
David Byrne has always been an influential and innovative musician from his time in the iconic Talking Heads to his solo and collaboration work that have magnified his talent exponentially. Today, he announces a new album entitled ‘Who Is The Sky?’ out through Matador Records and Remote Control Records on 5 September 2025, a single …
Album Review: Pulp gives us ‘More’ – returning with an aged beauty and graceful pose but the same louche insouciance we missed.
In ‘More’, Pulp return not with a bang but with a graceful, knowing nod – like old friends who’ve learned that the quietest whispers can sometimes carry the heaviest truths. It’s a record suffused with a poignant maturity, and yet it dances with all the absurd, anxious glamour that has always made Pulp more than …