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Why Rain Showerheads Are the Worst: Personal Essay
Is it possible to make a cleaning device your enemy? I’m not talking about loathing robot vacuums or an air conditioner you can control from your phone. No, I’m here to get on my high horse, her Royal Pettiness, about the absurdity of a rain showerhead. Nothing in the world will guarantee my foul mood more than the impractical, anxiety-inducing, irritating experience of a “rainfall” shower. For some reason, hotels worldwide have taken this Pinterest board idea too far, and I’m here on six legs (mine and my high horse’s) to stand against this abomination to women and the rest of mankind. Why would I, as a Black woman, ever…
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CMAT’s Factory Theatre Show Feels Like the Start of Something Big 16.01.2025 – Backseat Mafia
The Factory Theatre feels like a time capsule tonight, the kind of intimate venue where you see an artist right before their inevitable ascent into the stratosphere. The artist in question: Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, better known as CMAT, a Dublin export with an arsenal of songs that blend humour and heartbreak into infectious, earworm-laden brilliance. It’s her first-ever Australian tour, splitting time between headlining gigs in Melbourne and Sydney and sharing the stage with The Teskey Brothers, Band of Horses, and Sierra Ferrell on A Day On The Green. CMAT’s backstory is the stuff of modern myth. Charli XCX once told her to “figure it out” and start making her…
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Tulerie Clothing Rental App Founders Product Recommendations
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. The Expert Edit features interviews with specialists about the products they swear by in their chosen field. For the latest installment, we spoke to Violet Gross and Diana Giese, Tulerie’s founder/CEO and COO, respectively. Tulerie is a luxury peer-to-peer rental clothing app that launched in 2018 — ahead, sisters Gross and Giese share their top lifestyle product recommendations. Violet Gross founded designer rental app Tulerie based on the simple idea that women love to share clothes…
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Brighton’s Nature TV Announce Debut Album, Share New Single ‘One Step Forward’ Via Heist Or Hit – Backseat Mafia
Brighton quartet Nature TV announce their eagerly anticipated debut album, Unlucky For Some, set for release via indie label heavyweights Heist or Hit. To mark the occasion, the band has unveiled their new single, ‘One Step Forward’, accompanied by a brilliant new video featuring TV comedian Alex Horne, well known for Channel 4’s Taskmaster. Produced by longtime collaborator Solo Major, ‘One Step Forward’ delivers a meticulously layered soundscape. A buoyant bass line leads the way, laying the foundation for fuzz-tinged guitars that shimmer over crisp, perfectly executed drums. The analog-inspired production brings a vintage warmth to the track, while the laid-back vocals from frontman Guy add a soulful depth. The…
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Pit Pony – Vacancy – Backseat Mafia
Newcastle-based five-piece Pit Pony new track ‘Vacancy’, taken from their upcoming album ‘Dead Stars’, due out on the 7th of February via Clue Records/EMI North. ‘Vacancy’ navigates our complicated relationship with social media, the influx of life hacks and trends that come with it, and ultimately how empty it can make you feel. “It’s about being dumbfounded by the modern world and social media,” vocalist Jackie Purver explains. “The song itself is about the repetitive nature of aspiring to things you see in an online video and thinking that’s the pinnacle and buying endless things that an influencer has been paid to sell you.” Unique, striking and immensely enjoyable. The track has a vacant waft of charm, with the…
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Eora/Sydney band KRYSTAL RIVVERS release the thrilling, anthemic track ‘Sienna’ ahead of live dates. – Backseat Mafia
Eora/Sydney band KRYSTAL RIVVERS have today released their sparkling new single ‘Sienna’, confirming a very exciting presence. Coasting on a jingle jangle bedrock, the track sparkles with a vitality as Boon Wurrung/Wurundjeri storyteller and lead singer Earl Weir’ vocal’s enter, deep and sonorous, an enigmatic delivery with an angelic chorus in the distance. The anthemic track reminds me of Naarm/Melbourne band Cousin Tony’s Brand New Firebird: a big band sound with a thrilling cinematic scope that positively shimmers like the stars in the firmament. Weir says of the track: The story’s foundation is the poetry; we’ve used tones and energetic shifts to bring that to life. Through that basis, I…
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Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory release another tempting taster in the form of ‘Trouble’ ahead of debut album. – Backseat Mafia
The magnificent Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory, having announced their self-titled debut album out on 7 February 2025 via Jagjaguwar, have unveiled another track, ‘Trouble’, as a tempting taste of what’s to come. ‘Trouble’ starts with a sonorous ambulant bass that flows throughout the track as other instruments glide in over the top: it’s an enigmatic sound that builds up with Van Etten’s voice velvet and soft, floating across the surface like a silken veil. it’s a melancholic reflective delight that drips with emotion and is deliciously hypnotic and sensuous. Van Etten says of the track: ‘Trouble’ is about the idea of having to coexist with people you love who have…
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A313 Retinol Review: With 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. This summer, I was able to visit Paris for a work trip. When I was making a list of all of the things I wanted to do while I was there, there was one item that sat extremely high — and it’s probably not what you think. No, I didn’t want to visit any museums or shop for luxury items — I wanted to check out the…
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Mess Esque return with new album ‘Jay Marie, Comfort Me’ set for release in March, and a stunning single ‘Take Me To Your Infinite Garden’. – Backseat Mafia
It’s been just over three years since Mess Esque – the stunning collaboration between Helen Franzmann (McKisko) and Mick Turner (Dirty Three, Tren Brothers) – released their self-titled album (see my review here), and today they have announced a follow-up entitled ‘Jay Marie, Comfort Me’ due for release on 28 March 2025 through Drag City Records and Remote Control Records. First cab off the rank is the single ‘Take Me To You Infinite Garden’ – a fuzzy, ominous fugue that’s hypnotic and thrilling, driven by the contrast between the buzz-saw guitars and thundering drums with Franzmann’s dreamy ethereal vocals that turn into a piercing lament soaked with melancholy. It’s a…
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Squigs Beauty Double Shot Face Serum Review
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. It took me a while to come to terms with the fact that I now have sensitive skin. I can’t overindulge in exfoliants and retinol without breaking out, causing a rash, and damaging my skin’s moisture barrier. I had to learn to rely on hydrating and calming products just as much as my actives. The editor-favorite Squigs Beauty Gooseberry Delight Hair Oil has done wonders for my hair, so I had to try out the brand’s…
