Mere Women - 'Romantic Notions'

Pensive, profound and at once ostensibly urgent and unnerving, ‘Romantic Notions’ captures the overwhelming intensity of obsessive love and control while sharing often-uncomfortable truths relating to women’s lived experiences; a ubiquitous theme throughout the Mere Women catalogue.

The looming Mere Women album was written and rehearsed in a riverside cottage in Sydney and later recorded with Tim G Carr at One Flight Up studios in March, on the cusp of lockdown. The foreboding threat of lockdown left a peculiar feeling throughout the recording process, filling the air with a tremendous sense of uncertainty and giving the overall process an unusual edge.

Three Indigenous deaths in custody in last fortnight

Three Indigenous people have died in custody in the past fortnight — two in Sydney and one in Melbourne.

The deaths in Sydney were revealed by the NSW Corrective Services Commissioner during budget estimates the following week.

Labor senator Pat Dodson, who worked on the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody three decades ago, is calling for a meeting of states and territories to deal with the issue.