In times of chaos, music can be a place of escape or comfort. The best albums of 2023 devised a wealth of helpful solutions and coping mechanisms for our everyday problems. Must-hear albums kept piling up at an insane rate, and with a few noted exceptions (including Miley Cyrus, Drake, and the, um, Rolling Stones), this wasn’t a huge …

Voted on by over nine Messed!Up music writers, we celebrate the year’s best tracks from John Grant to Depeche Mode and beyond. ********** John Grant: “Day Is Done” Kvelertak: ”Krøterveg te Helvete” The Reytons: “Little Bastards” Sleep Token: “The Summoning” Mindchatter: ”Growing Pains” Kite: ”Don’t Take The Light Away” Twelve’len & Denzel Curry: ”Lady Draco” Solen: ”Lovikka” Depeche Mode: ”Ghosts …

At Fridays just before we set off for our favorite pub at Reeperbahn we put together a list of songs that have inspired us the last week, a mix of new and old songs that get us through the day when the coffee machine is broken. 

Let’s start in our amusing reality: when I jumped off the bus in Gothenburg for my fourth Viva Sounds Festival it was -11 degrees and snow. At the same time, our Melbourne photographer sent the first batch of photos from Good Things Festival and complained about light showers and +24 degrees. That’s an outtake from Messed!Up’s different realities on December …

I have a distinct memory from earlier this year of a walk home, slightly inebriated following a night of drinking and laughing and ironically going to clubs meant for university freshers (I’m 24) with some of my best friends. It was April, about 3 am and wet – Manchester’s iconic drizzling rain pestering the few remaining night owls out and …

Under the backdrop of grey skies and a deceptively harsh sun in Melbourne, eager festival-goers embarked on the journey down the entryway of Flemington Racecourse. The venue, typically reserved for the glitz and glamour of the city’s elite, took on a different persona. Instead of the usual scene of posh formal attire, suits, and elegant, elaborately decorated hats mingling with …