News: Split Enz announce Vika & Linda and Hans Pucket for Forever Enz Tour As anticipation builds around the Forever Enz Tour, Split Enz have now confirmed special guests for their first major run of shows in nearly two decades. Joining all Australian dates will be Vika & Linda, whose harmony-rich catalogue and towering live reputation make them an inspired choice. The sisters are expected to perform fan favourites alongside previews from forthcoming ninth album Where Do You Come From?, due 5 June. Across the New Zealand leg, support duties fall to Wellington four-piece Hans Pucket. Their latest album No Dramasharpened their knack for hook-heavy, danceable indie rock, but their strongest currency has long been live energy.

Split Enz have revealed special guests for the Forever Enz Tour, with Vika & Linda joining Australia and Hans Pucket on NZ dates.
#splitenz #musicupdate #musicnews
@splitenzofficial

Track: Francois van Coke turns recurring nightmares into new single Nightmares rarely keep office hours. They arrive uninvited, drag old memories back into the room and refuse to explain themselves. Francois van Coke turns that unrest into fuel on new single ‘Nagmerries (Bye Bye Baby)’, a song built from recurring dreams and the urge to finally leave them behind. The South African artist says the track was inspired by a nightmare that repeatedly returned him to an uncomfortable chapter of his life. Writing the song, however, appears to have shifted something. Since finishing it, he says the nightmare has not returned.

Francois van Coke returns with ‘Nagmerries (Bye Bye Baby)’, a new single shaped by recurring dreams and uneasy truths.
#francoisvancoke #nagmerries #newmusic #nightmares
@francoisvancoke

Track: Max Aurora & The Southern Lights return with infectious new single ‘How I Know It’s Right’ Some artists write confessionals. Max Aurora & The Southern Lights prefer something wider angled, where personal feeling meets storytelling, memory and motion. The Naarm / Melbourne group, led by intersex and non-binary songwriter Max Aurora, are preparing a run of new releases for 2026, led by the bright rush of new single ‘How I Know It’s Right’. An infectious pop-punk leaning track with indie instincts intact, the song is impossible to ignore, pairing urgency with the emotional clarity that runs through Max Aurora’s writing. If much contemporary guitar music can sound trapped between irony and nostalgia, this arrives with something cleaner: conviction.

Max Aurora & The Southern Lights drop infectious new single ‘How I Know It’s Right’.
@maxauroramusic

Track: Ed O’Brien shares expansive new single ‘Incantations’ from Blue Morpho Not every second act arrives with fanfare. Sometimes it begins with patience, solitude and eight minutes of slow-building guitar light. Ed O’Brien has released new single ‘Incantations’, the latest preview of his forthcoming solo album Blue Morpho, due 22 May via Transgressive Records. Best known as a key architect of Radiohead’s atmosphere and tension, O’Brien has often operated in the margins of songs, colouring their edges rather than occupying the centre. Blue Morpho appears to reverse that dynamic, placing his own voice and instincts squarely in focus. Album opener ‘Incantations’ stretches across eight minutes of hypnotic psych-folk, built around interlocking guitars from Dave Okumu and a rhythm section that keeps the track in steady motion without crowding its calm.

Ed O’Brien releases ‘Incantations’, an eight-minute new preview of forthcoming solo album Blue Morpho.
#edobrien #newmusic #musicnews
@eobofficial

News: Nottingham band EYRE LLEW unveil the ethereal ‘Bloom’, title track for their new album and ahead of UK tour dates It's certainly easy to see why Nottingham band EYRE LLEW have been described as Britain's answer to Sigur Rós with their new single 'Bloom'. However, while there are clear traces in the DNA, the band has it's own distinctive style. 'Bloom' has a vast cinematic sweeping sound filled with a soaring anthemic rush and rousing swells of instrumentation. It's ethereal and spine chillingly beautiful. The band says of the single: 'Bloom' is a song about choosing commitment at a moment when everything else felt uncertain. Written during lockdown, it captures the decision to jump fully into a relationship, rushing a move from Nottingham to Butetown in Cardiff, building a home together, and giving life a chance at happiness and stability over apprehension and distance.

News: Nottingham band EYRE LLEW unveil the ethereal 'Bloom', title track for their new album and ahead of UK tour dates
@eyrellew
#eyrellew #nottingham #dreampop #track #news #indie #video

News: Violent Soho announce first Australian shows in four years The rumour mill can stand down. After weeks of raised eyebrows, hopeful whispers and that surprise Sydney Opera House cameo with Mark Hoppus, Violent Soho have confirmed what plenty suspected: they are returning to the stage for the first time in four years. The Brisbane band will play three east coast headline dates this September, beginning at Enmore Theatre on 11 September, before heading to Forum Melbourne on 18 September and closing with a hometown show at Fortitude Music Hall on 25 September. Support across all dates comes from Beddy Rays, with Teenage Joans opening in Sydney and Secret World joining the Melbourne bill.

Violent Soho are back. The Brisbane favourites return this September with three east coast headline shows.
#violentsoho #musicnews #australianmusic
@violentsoho4122

Track: Genesis Owusu charges forward on new single ‘LIFE KEEPS GOING’ Genesis Owusu has never looked interested in taking the straight road, and new single LIFE KEEPS GOING only reinforces that instinct. The latest preview of forthcoming third album REDSTAR WU & THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE arrives with swagger, urgency and enough rhythmic force to rearrange the furniture around it. Driven by a gritty drum and bass pulse, “LIFE KEEPS GOING” hits with movement from the outset. Across sharp, purposeful verses, Owusu turns his attention to time, momentum and the stubborn refusal of life to move neatly. Rather than resisting the chaos, he draws energy from it, finding strength in disorder and motion.

Genesis Owusu drops LIFE KEEPS GOING ahead of new album
#genesisowusu #newmusic #musicnews
@genesisowusu

News: Kylie Minogue opens her archives for new three-part documentary KYLIE Some pop stars have eras. Kylie Minogue has decades. From her first rush of fame as Charlene on Neighbours to becoming one of the most reliable hitmakers in modern pop, Minogue has spent five decades moving with the times without ever sounding trapped by them. Now a new three-part documentary, KYLIE, promises a closer look at the life behind the spotlight. The series sees Kylie open her personal archives, drawing on home movies, photographs and new interviews to trace a career that has sold more than 80 million records worldwide.

Kylie Minogue opens the vault for KYLIE, a new three-part documentary tracing five decades of pop reinvention.
#Kylie #kylieminogue #netflix #documentary
@kylieminogue @netflixanz

Premiere: ‘This Is How It Hurts’ – Justin Stokes (from the band Wilding) shows us exactly how in his new solo project Modern Ideas. We are massive fans of the work of Justin Stokes through his work with the band Wilding, admiring his ability to craft intelligent self-deprecating pop of the highest order. We are therefore honoured to bring you the debut single 'This Is How It Hurts' from his new project called Modern Ideas. Modern Ideas explores a new synth pop universe, as Stokes eloquently explains: Synthetic forms can be the most authentic way to express emotion. Something is revealed in the antithesis. Plastic dreams, electric romance, and machines humming with human desire.

Premiere: 'This Is How It Hurts' - Justin Wilding (from the band Wilding) shows us exactly how in his new solo project Modern Ideas.
@modernideasmusic
#modernideas #premiere #backseatdownunder #indie #synth #pop #news #80s #synthpop #wilding

News: Tricky announces first solo album in six years with Different When It’s Silent Some artists follow the times. Tricky has spent three decades doing something harder: building a world of his own and inviting everyone else to catch up. Now the Bristol original has announced Different When It’s Silent, his 15th studio album, due 17 July via False Idols. Pre-save the album HERE. It is his first full-length release under the Tricky name since 2020’s Fall To Pieces, and by all accounts a deliberate return to the lean, unsettling grammar that made 1995’s Maxinquaye such a rupture in British music. Where many heritage acts polish the past, Tricky seems more interested in reopening it.

Tricky returns in July with Different When It’s Silent, led by new single ‘Out Of Place’.
#tricky #musicnews #newmusic
@trickyofficial

News: Seether return with new EP Beneath The Surface and fierce single ‘Into The Ground’ There is a certain kind of durability to Seether. Across shifting rock trends, streaming-era churn and the collapse of post-grunge as a critical buzzword, the band have remained stubbornly intact: sharp-edged, emotionally candid and built for rooms that like their choruses loud enough to rattle the ribs. Now they return with Beneath The Surface, a new digital EP that leans into everything that has made them such a long-haul force. Fronted by the bruised momentum of lead single ‘Into The Ground’, the release pairs brooding tension with the kind of explosive payoff Seether have long made feel instinctive.

Seether return swinging with Beneath The Surface featuring new single ‘Into The Ground’ and a fresh blast of raw, heavy melody.
#seether #newmusic #musicnews
@seether

News: Passenger announces a special open air homecoming show at Hove Park, Brighton on Sunday 6th September 2026.  Passenger announces a very special open air homecoming show at Hove Park, Brighton on Sunday 6th September 2026.  Returning to the city of Brighton where his journey began, the performance marks a full-circle moment for Passenger (aka Mike Rosenberg), who first built his audience busking on local streets before going on to achieve global success.   All The Little Lights - Album Cover Now one of the UK’s most celebrated independent artists, Passenger is award-winning, multi-platinum selling singer-songwriter. He recently marked a decade since the release of his seminal album…

News: Passenger announces a special open air homecoming show at Hove Park, Brighton on Sunday 6th September 2026. 

Passenger announces a very special open air homecoming show at Hove Park, Brighton on Sunday 6th September 2026.  Returning to the city of Brighton where his journey began, the…

Track: Lewis Capaldi unveils heartfelt new single ‘Stay Love’ after Madison Square Garden debut Lewis Capaldi has added a new chapter to his comeback run with the release of Stay Love, a special addition to the deluxe edition of his 2025 Survive EP. The new ballad arrived in typically dramatic fashion, first unveiled during a surprise pop-up set at Penn Station before receiving its full live debut hours later at a sold-out Madison Square Garden. “Stay Love” is classic Capaldi in all the right ways. Built around piano and emotional directness, the song strips things back to allow his unmistakable voice to carry every line.

Lewis Capaldi releases Stay Love after surprise Penn Station set and Madison Square Garden debut
#lewiscapaldi #musicnews #newmusic
@lewiscapaldi

Track: Shewita announces debut EP Canvas and shares new single ‘CINS’ Shewita has announced her debut EP Canvas, arriving 5 June via Music in Exile, alongside luminous new single "CINS." For an artist already familiar with major stages, Canvas signals a different kind of arrival: intimate, self-defined and built around a voice capable of carrying multiple worlds at once. Short for “crying in the nail salon,” “CINS” finds Shewita at her most exposed. Where earlier work carried a poised sense of control, this new single leans into uncertainty, emotional friction and the private tensions that often surface inside close relationships. Produced by Akey Amy, the track moves with cool confidence, pairing Miami Bass-inspired percussion with sleek electronic textures that leave room for Shewita’s vocals to drift and sting in equal measure.

Shewita announces debut EP Canvas arriving June 5 and shares luminous new single CINS via Music in Exile
#shewita #newmusic #musicnews
@iamshewita

Track: unpeople strike back with ferocious new single ‘clouds’ unpeople have returned with the kind of single that kicks the door open rather than politely knocking. New track cloudsarrives via SharpTone Records, combining crushing riffs, sharp melodic instincts and the sort of hooks designed to linger long after the noise clears. At its centre, “clouds” is a refusal. Frontman Jake Crawford has framed the song as a rejection of trend-chasing, outside pressure and the endless demand for artists to mould themselves into whatever moves fastest. Instead, the band double down on trusting instinct over quick fixes, a stance that gives the track its urgency.

unpeople release new single clouds ahead of Download Festival summer run
#unpeople #newmusic #musicnews
@weareunpeople

News: Future Islands mark 20 years with rare tracks collection From a Hole in the Floor to a Fountain of Youth Future Islands have never relied on spectacle to sustain their story. Across two decades, the Baltimore group have moved from underground promise to cult devotion, then into the rarer territory of a band that simply keeps enduring. Their next release honours that path without reaching for the usual anniversary clichés. Instead of a conventional greatest-hits package, Future Islands have announced From a Hole in the Floor to a Fountain of Youth, a twenty-track collection of rarities, long-hidden recordings and fan favourites that have often existed outside the streaming era. Due May 22, the double LP gathers songs from across the band’s lifespan, many of them arriving on digital platforms for the first time.

Future Islands announce 20 year collection From a Hole in the Floor to a Fountain of Youth and share two songs
#futureislands #newmusic #musicnews
@futureislands @remotecontrolrecords

News: The ethereal All India Radio announces some special live performances, including its first ever hometown gig in Hobart Martin Kennedy, one of the key members of All India Radio, has been a resident of Tasmania in the capital at the edge of the world, Hobart, for the past few years. It is a strange fact then that All India Radio has never actually played live in his host city. This is all about to change: the band has announced a hometown gig for Thursday, 14 May at the uber cool Altar Bar. And as delicious icing to the cake, they will be supported by Dvrkworld, another much lauded antipodean shoegaze band that we have endlessly waxed lyrical about.

News: The ethereal All India Radio announces some special live performances, including its first ever hometown gig in Hobart
@allindiaradioband @dvrk_world_ @altarbarhobart
#allindiaradio #dvrkworld #backseatdownunder #altarbar #news #live #ambient #psych #shoegaze

News: The magnificent Selve announce new EP to follow up last year’s ‘Breaking Into Heaven’ and unveil thundering single ‘Desire’ ahead of UK/European tour Last year's album 'Breaking Into Heaven' from Gold Coast (Yugambeh/Kombumerri)-based six-piece Selve was one of the highlights of the year (see my review here). And it is good news indeed that they today announce a follow up EP, amusingly called 'Breaking Outta Heaven' die for release on Friday, 19 June. It comes ahead of an extensive tour across Europe and the UK. To give us a taste of what's to come, the single 'Desire' is unleashed today and the indocations are, last year's release was not a blip. 'Desire' delivers a sonic punch - something Selve are very adept at.

News: The magnificent Selve announce new EP to follow up last year's 'Breaking Into Heaven' and unveil thundering single 'Desire' ahead of UK/European tour
@selvemusic
#selve #backseatdownunder #indie #pop #news #track #video #Yugambeh #Kombumerri #tour

News: Geordie Greep brings debut solo album The New Sound to Australia Geordie Greep is heading to Australia this July and August, bringing his debut solo album The New Sound to local stages for the first time. Best known as the unpredictable focal point of Black Midi, Greep now steps further into his own orbit with a record that widens the possibilities rather than narrowing them. The New Sound thrives on the absence of boundaries. Built with more than thirty session musicians across two continents, the album stretches from Brazil to Europe, with half of it recorded alongside Brazilian players responding only to demos, unaware of Greep’s previous work.

Geordie Greep announces Australian tour for debut solo album The New Sound
#geordiegreep #blackmidi #musicnews
@handsometours @emperorgreep

News: Modest Mouse announce new album An Eraser and a Maze and share lead track Modest Mouse have announced their first new album in five years, and in typical fashion they have done it by changing lanes rather than repeating themselves. An Eraser and a Maze lands on June 5, marking the band’s first release on Glacial Pace Recordings, the longtime imprint of frontman Isaac Brock, after more than two decades with Epic Records. Produced by Brock with additional work from Jackknife Lee, Suzy Shinn and Justin Raisen, the album reportedly pulls threads from every era of the band’s catalogue. That feels fitting for a group whose history has moved from cult outsiders to unlikely mainstream force without ever sanding down their strange edges.

Modest Mouse announce new album An Eraser and a Maze
#modestmouse #musicnews #newmusic
@modestmouse

Premiere: In an L.A. Mood – the solo project of Davie Mudie (Super American Eagle, ex-Immigrant Union & Courtney Barnett band) unveils trippy new single ‘Canal Twanging’ ahead of album release. LA Mood is the project of Melbourne-based multi-instrumentalist and producer Davie Mudie (Super American Eagle, ex-Immigrant Union & Courtney Barnett band) and we are honoured to premiere the new single, the intriguingly named 'Canal Twanging'. Out through the fantastic Cheersquad Records & Tapes it heralds a new album due out soon. 'Canal Twanging' is a delightful jumble of a song highlighted by a psychedelic fugue and a scaling chorus, ambling along with a jaunty sun-filtered pace like a heady mix between George Harrison, The Charlatans and a chemically-induced experiment. Influenced by quite literally the sound of a canal, Mudie says of the track:

Premiere: In an L.A. Mood - the solo project of Davie Mudie (Super American Eagle, ex-Immigrant Union & Courtney Barnett band) unveils trippy new single 'Canal Twanging' ahead of album release.
@dmouse13 @cheersquadrecords
#lamood #premiere #backseatdownunder #track #video #psych #naarm #melbourne

News: Castle Park finally arrives as Graham Coxon reopens solo catalogue Graham Coxon has spent much of his career hiding side doors inside already successful buildings. Best known as the guitarist and restless engine room of blur, Coxon’s solo catalogue has long offered a parallel story: rougher, stranger, more intimate, and often harder to find. Now that body of work is being reopened, beginning with the first-ever release of a previously unheard album. Castle Park, recorded in 2011 and shelved for over a decade, will finally arrive on June 19 via Transgressive Records. The record was made during the sessions that produced A+E and was originally intended as its follow-up before renewed blur activity in 2012 diverted the path.

Graham Coxon announces lost album Castle Park plus solo catalogue reissues and London live return
#grahamcoxon #blur
@grahamcoxon @blur

Live Review & Gallery: Machine Gun Kelly Brings Explosive Energy to Qudos Bank Arena for Lost Americana Tour – Eora Land/Sydney 14.04.26 Machine Gun Kelly stormed into Sydney's Qudos Bank Arena last week, delivering a glistening two-hour spectacle for over 20,000 screaming fans. The show opened with the talented Honest Abe, who brought a compelling mix of explosive, hearty emotion and had the crowd raring to go. From the moment MGK took the stage, guitar being delivered from the heavens and backed by his incredibly tight on-stage band, the production reached immediate arena heights. The stage design was dominated by a towering Statue of Liberty head that loomed over the proceedings, a perfectly fitting symbol for the tour's themes of freedom, rebellion, and self-expression that ran through the setlist.

Machine Gun Kelly Brings Explosive Energy to Qudos Bank Arena Sydney for Lost Americana Tour! Live gallery available now.

@machinegunkelly @rpm_pr @qudosbankarena

image: @juiceboxedjess

News: These Are The Waves celebrates the lasting legacy of Conway Savage These Are The Waves arrives in Australia this July as a celebration of the life and music of Conway Savage, the revered singer-songwriter and longtime keyboard player for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. After sold-out performances in Ireland, the tribute production heads to Sydney for one night only before two Melbourne dates, gathering family, friends, collaborators and admirers around a catalogue that continues to cast a long shadow. Savage, who died in 2018, occupied a singular space within Australian music. From his early years in Melbourne bands through to his near three-decade tenure with the Bad Seeds, he carried a presence that was both understated and unmistakable.

These Are The Waves celebrates Conway Savage with Sydney and Melbourne tribute shows this July
#conwaysavage #nickcaveandthebadseeds #musicnews
@thesearethewaves2026

News: The Reytons bring world tour to Australia and New Zealand this summer The Reytons have spent the last few years turning local momentum into something far larger, and now the Rotherham four-piece are taking the next obvious step. Their first ever world tour has been announced, with Australian and New Zealand dates locked for November and December as the band continue a rise built on persistence, volume and a refusal to smooth out their edges. For a group often positioned as outsiders to the industry machine, The Reytons have compiled a record that speaks loudly enough on its own. Number one albums, sold-out hometown landmarks and major festival headlines have pushed them into the upper tier of modern British guitar bands.

The Reytons announce first world tour with Australia and New Zealand dates this November and December
#reytons #musicnews
@thereytons @destroyallines

News: YĪN YĪN announce first ever Australian tour with new album Yatta! YĪN YĪN are finally heading to Australia, announcing their first ever run of local dates in support of forthcoming fourth album Yatta!. The Maastricht groove specialists will bring their celebrated live show to Sydney, Brisbane and Mullumbimby, marking a long-awaited first encounter with Australian audiences. Since forming in the Netherlands in 2017, YĪN YĪN have built a sound that resists tidy categorisation. Psychedelia, disco, funk and Southeast Asian influences all feed into the mix, held together by an instinctive sense of rhythm that keeps everything moving forward. It is music designed to travel, shifting between hypnotic repetition, bright melodic turns and dancefloor momentum.

YĪN YĪN announce first Australian tour with Yatta shows in Sydney Brisbane and Mullumbimby
#yinyin #musicnews
@yinyinband @handsometours

News: Van Pletzen announce BENAAIHILISM and unleash ‘Gqeberha Shake Dat Ass’ Van Pletzen have never shown much interest in subtlety, and their forthcoming fifth album BENAAIHILISM appears set to continue that tradition with the volume turned further upward. The title itself is an invented Mengels word, merging benaai with nihilism, and signals a collision of excess and unease: hedonism on one side, existential dread on the other. For the duo, benaai points to life lived at full pace. It is the language of parties, indulgence and celebration. Set against that is a more uneasy current, with the album exploring meaning, purpose and the suspicion that none of it may matter much at all.

Van Pletzen fuse nihilism and nightlife on new album BENAAIHILISM
#vanpletzen #newmusic
@vanpletz

Track: Freya Ridings shares intimate new single ‘Dancing In The Kitchen’ and announces major tour Freya Ridings has entered a new chapter with the release of Dancing In The Kitchen, the latest preview of her forthcoming album Mother Of Pearl, due May 29 via BMG. It arrives with the sense of an artist stepping forward on her own terms, carrying the recognisable power of her voice while widening the emotional frame around it. Built around ukulele and an exposed vocal performance, “Dancing In The Kitchen” strips things back to essentials. The song leans into vulnerability rather than grand gestures, offering a quiet anthem about letting go of worry and allowing joy to exist in private moments.

Freya Ridings releases Dancing In The Kitchen and announces UK EU tour
#freyaridings #musicnews
@freyaridings

Track: Olivia Rodrigo returns with ‘Drop Dead’ & makes surprise stage appearance with Addison Rae at Coachella It has been one of those pop weekends where every notification seems to arrive carrying another headline. Madonna has unveiled fresh material from her forthcoming Confessions II era and shared a stage with Sabrina Carpenter. Now Olivia Rodrigo has answered with her own move, appearing onstage with Addison Rae coinciding with the release of her new single Drop Dead. The track arrives ahead of Rodrigo’s upcoming album you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, due June 12, and leans into a more romantic, widescreen palette. Produced by Dan Nigro, whose recent work has also helped shape the rise of Chappell Roan, “Drop Dead” trades blunt-force catharsis for something more graceful.

Olivia Rodrigo drops new single Drop Dead after appearing onstage with Addison Rae
#oliviarodrigo #coachella #addisonrae #thecure #robertsmith
@oliviarodrigo @coachella @addisonraee @thecure

Live Gallery: nothing, nowhere. marked a decade of evolution at 170 Russell Melbourne 19.04.2026 At 170 Russell, nothing, nowhere. arrived as an artist marking ten years since first emerging from the shadows online and turning isolation into connection. The Return Of The Reaper tour carried more than a new run of dates. It traced the path of a career built on reinvention, independence and emotional candour. Born from the vision of Joseph Mulherin, nothing, nowhere. has spent the past decade dissolving boundaries between emo, hip hop, rock and pop. From the self-titled debut in 2015 through the breakthrough of Reaper in 2017 and onward to 2024’s Cult Classic, the project has evolved without losing the vulnerability that first drew listeners in.

nothing nowhere brings The Return Of The Reaper tour to 170 Russell Melbourne
#nothingnowhere #livemusic
Images @bradkendell
@nothingnowhere @destroyalllines