Twenty-eight of the best Australian songs of 2025, ft. Local Woman, Acopia, Drifting Clouds, Bumpy, Dawn Again, ŽIVA, trickpony and more.
The best Australian music of 2025 (continued)
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Maggie Tra explores displacement and belonging on Cyclo Theory: ‘It’s quite a joyful yet heavy album’
Maggie Tra tells Check Check about the feelings of displacement and belonging that informed her fourth album in as many years, Cyclo Theory.
The best Australian music of May 2025 – Ela Stiles, Maggie Tra, Nū + more
Our favourites of May, from Ela Stiles’ oxytocin-powered pop to Kate Miller’s ambient techno and Barkaa’s rootsy, dance-oriented “Ngamaka.”
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Lim Orion rebels against relational neglect by dancing on the furniture
Lim Orion channels Japanese folklore and 90s alt-rock on Futon, the third single released from forthcoming album Ilk. The hefty power chords in the chorus might resemble something off Silverchair’s Neon Ballroom, but Futon is no garden variety bit of grunge nostalgia....
The Drones review – menaced, dirgy rock’n’roll at Melbourne comeback show
The return of The Drones has caused a minor but genuine frenzy. What was originally intended as a "six show run for fun" has ballooned into an 18-stop tour plus festival appearances in Darwin and Wollongong. The Aus rock nostalgia circuit is a bloated field, but the...
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No one was moving or dancing really, and very few people even had their phones out to film – perhaps out of guilt as they watched so many images of the world ending. Massive Attack’s 2010 tour of Australia occupies a special place in the memory of anyone who attended...
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I’ve been going to Rising’s Day Tripper festival since its launch in 2024. The lineups have all featured a mix of hyped indie acts, cult favourites, genre veterans and a few sprouting locals. But what characterises the Day Tripper programming is a general disregard...
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A few months ago, my friend Penny recommended me the Fela Kuti podcast, Fear No Man, a 12-episode series that looks at how the Nigerian Afrobeat icon backed up his claim that “music is the weapon of the future.” During the 1970s and 80s, Fela made music designed to...
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The morning after Cate Le Bon’s gig at Melbourne Town Hall, I was flicking through the digital version of Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies card deck. There was one card that seemed to neatly sum up Le Bon’s latest album, Michelangelo Dying, songs from which accounted...
Sparks review – beloved songs from beloved strange brothers
Sparks' performance at Melbourne's Palais Theatre was like a Reader's Digest of the Mael brothers' long and discursive career, with a few unexpected picks. I recently spoke to Sparks keyboardist and songwriter, Ron Mael, who is now 80 years old. I asked him whether he...
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A dance on a farm for Butter Sessions’ 15th birthday
Choose love. Sang wrote this on my left hand on Thursday afternoon. It washed off in the shower on Friday morning, but I retraced it before going to Butter Sessions' 15th birthday party later that day. It was Good Friday and Butter Sessions had curated an afternoon...
Gallery: Pitch Music & Arts, March 6-10 2026
The ninth iteration of Pitch Music & Arts took place from 6-10 March on the stolen lands of the Djab Wurrung and Eastern Maar people. The lineup included Bitter Babe, Yu Su, Sleep D b2b Jennifer Loveless, OK Williams, Eris Drew & Octo Octa, Estella Boersma,...