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What It’s Like Having Eczema: Personal Essay
While each product featured is independently selected by our editors, we may include paid promotion. If you buy something through our links, we may earn commission. Read more about our Product Review Guidelines here. Like roughly 10 percent of the US population, I have eczema. It first appeared when I was around three months old. Now that I’m an adult, It’s manageable mainly, though it does flare up occasionally, causing my skin to break out in that tell-tale itchy red rash and subsequent dryness. Usually, it appears in the crooks of my elbows and sometimes in patches on my legs, ankles, hands, and the center of my neck. Changes in…
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Meanjin/Brisbane’s Zanna Black unveils the gorgeously evocative track ‘This Town’ – a glorious, ethereal paean to dispossession and loss. – Backseat Mafia
Meanjin/Brisbane singer/songwriter Zanna Black is releasing a gloriously ethereal track ‘This Town’ tomorrow and we are inordinately honoured to bring you an early listen. ‘This Town has a delicate, fey delivery, filled with a whimsical whirl that is enticing and transfixing. Black’s voice dances through the ether, drenched in a yearning melancholia, a bed of strings providing a comforting iridescent glow. There is a gentle tone reminiscent of Christina Perri, and yet imbued with an antipodean sunshine that sparkles in the sunlight. Fittingly, the accompanying video is awash with shimmering sunshine and rolling waves as Black and her band performs – a deep geographical connection to the landscapes and the…
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Naarm’s Surprise Chef Return With New Release ‘Bully Ball’ and Album Announcement – Backseat Mafia
After spending 2024 immersed in the live re-scoring of the 1971 Australian cult classic Wake in Fright, the Naarm/Melbourne outfit Surprise Chef have turned their focus back to their own sound. Their upcoming album, ‘Superb’, out May 16 via Big Crown Records, leans into a groove-heavy, soulful feel while keeping their exciting cinematic edge. The first taste is the just released ‘Bully Ball’, a slow-burning, piano-driven track that settles into a deep, hypnotic rhythm. There’s a locked-in groove, somewhere between a head-nod and hip-shake. Guitarist Lachlan Stuckey sums it up: “Spooky glockenspiel and wah guitar to make your chin move, heavy low-end kick drum and orchestral timpani for the extra…
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naturally soulful and melodically warm, a new Nordic jazz gem. – Backseat Mafia
Perceptions and pronouncements about Nordic Jazz can often return to parts of the classic ECM catalogue with its sophisticated coolness, ambient leanings and breathtaking spaciousness. But naturally, the Scandinavian scene is so vibrant that the music’s boundaries are forever shifting, on the reach for new horizons. Over the last couple of decades, ever since the legendary EST came upon us, the Nordic jazz genre has become more of a geographic label than a stylistic summary. Marius Neset, Phronesis, Jaga Jazzist, Bendik Giske, Jakob Bro and anything on the Hubro label or April Records bring post classical, post rock and electronic experimentalism into play with bop and post-bop sensibilities. Red Gazelle…
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Peach and Lily Glass Skin Luminizing Stick Review: Photos
PS Photography | Renee RodriguezPS Photography | Renee Rodriguez While each product featured is independently selected by our editors, we may include paid promotion. If you buy something through our links, we may earn commission. Read more about our Product Review Guidelines here. There’s nothing I love more than dewy, almost wet-looking skin. Unfortunately, I’ve been a dry skin girl my entire life, and although I consume water like I get paid to do it, I’ve accepted that at my core, my complexion will always feel parched. Luckily, I’ve found a good group of products to layer on that help keep my skin feeling moisturized, but whenever I’m vetting something…
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lutruwita/Tasmania artist Lasca Dry radiates some dazzling sunshine in ‘Sunset Baby’, ahead of live shows. – Backseat Mafia
Lasca Dry is an exciting artist coming from the southern edges of the world in lutriwita/Tasmania with an established reputation for her sparkling form of iridescent pop. We are therefore truly honoured to premiere her new single ‘Sunset Baby’ which sets the expansive skies over Australia alight with its transcendent irrepressible bounce and sixties-flavoured bubblegum pop aura. And heaven knows in the current climes how precious this radiant blast is. Dry says of the track ‘Sunset Baby’ is about the blurry line between love and obsession—the kind of passion that’s beautiful, intense, and just a little dangerous. Indeed, every note is imbued with Dry’s infectious passion. The video by Jesse…
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My Receding Hairline Journey: From Insecurity to Self-Love
I remember the first time I noticed my hairline was a little different. I was in middle school, examining how my hair didn’t seem to frame my face the same way as everyone else’s while standing in front of the bathroom mirror. Unlike the smooth, straight lines I saw on my friends, my hairline had a mind of its own, creeping back one side ever so slightly. It wasn’t just my imagination; I had inherited my mom’s hairline. At the time, it felt more like a curse than genetics. Kids can be cruel, and middle school is a breeding ground for their creativity in insults. It didn’t take long for…
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Courteneers and Shame added to Yours and Owls Line Up – Backseat Mafia
Courteeners, Manchester’s iconic indie-Britpop torchbearers, are gearing up for their first-ever Australian festival performance at Wollongong’s Yours and Owls this March. With seven studio albums to their name—most recently Pink Cactus Café (2024)—the band has secured their place among UK rock royalty. Known for festival anthems like Not Nineteen Forever, Are You In Love With a Notion?, and Bide Your Time, their global festival resume spans Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds, Fuji Rock, and Lollapalooza. Now, it’s time for Aussie fans to catch the Britpop heavyweights up close. South London post-punk disruptors Shame are set to deliver their adrenaline-fueled shouty anthems, bringing their blend of wit, chaos, and catharsis to the…
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Tree Hut Shea Sugar Body Scrub Review With Photos
While each product featured is independently selected by our editors, we may include paid promotion. If you buy something through our links, we may earn commission. Read more about our Product Review Guidelines here. As a beauty writer who tests hundreds of products a year (and that’s truly not much of an exaggeration), I’m a little embarrassed to admit that it took me way too long to try Tree Hut’s internet-famous body scrub. I’d seen it in more “Everything Shower” beauty hauls on TikTok than I could count, and for a while, I was skeptical of the hype. But flash-forward to today, and I’m as obsessed as anyone. My introduction…
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The deliciously dark Matt Malone & The Holy Spirits head to Aotearoa/New Zealand on tour. – Backseat Mafia
We were highly impressed by Matt Malone & The Holy Spirits’ 2023 album ‘For The Term Of My Natural Life’ (see my review here), and Matt Malone has announced he is taking this dark gothic epistle on tour through Aotearoa/New Zealand this month. Malone says of the tour: I’ll be doing a series of shows – talk about my biography / songwriting / occultism, video screening, Johnny Cash show + musical performances supported by some notable acts including Christian Wolves (Campbell Kneale – Birchville Cat Motel, Black Boned Angel) + Disjecta Membra (who have played w/ Death In June, Peter Murphy, The Mission…). I’ll be joined by Holy Spirit /…
