Pukkelpop 2025 blokkenschema dag 2 - vrijdag 15 augustus 2025

Slow Crush geldt als één van de meest toonaangevende bands binnen de hedendaagse shoegazerevival. Toch is hun sound gelaagder dan dat. Het viertal combineert invloeden uit de grunge, noisepop en postrock tot een intense wall of sound. Stereogum omschreef hen als “fucking phenomenal” en Kerrang! riep Slow Crush uit tot een van de hotste bands van het moment. Een grote Belgische band in wording!

Since going viral with their LA Public Library performance of their song “Racist, Sexist, Boy” the world has watched The Linda Lindas scream about injustice, sing about growing up and exhibit the kind of altruism that is so meaningful to the punk scene. While their evolution as writers, performers and studio geeks is clear on No Obligation, their ethos remain steadfast. The band has released three great album cuts so far, the anxiety filled "Too Many Things," the scorcher "Revolution / Resolution,” and the album’s addictive lead single “All In My Head".  With all four musicians each contributing to the writing and lead-singing, the songs are as varied and dynamic as the girls themselves, however the listener always senses the underpinning of both their shared world-view and their bond. No Obligation, the second full-length album (released on October 11 via Epitaph Records) from The Linda Lindas further advances their unironic, joyful, and exciting trajectory of mashing up L.A. punk with post punk, garage rock, power pop, new wave and rock en español. Written and recorded by the band during spring breaks, winter breaks, and long weekends (Lucia de la Garza and bassist Eloise Wong are still in high school, drummer Mila de la Garza just finished middle school, and Bela Salazar is patiently waiting for them to get done with it already), the new album has been in the works for the last two years whenever they weren’t at school or touring. The Linda Lindas most recently shared “No Obligation” - the ferocious title track. “I don’t got no obligation,” roars Eloise Wong in the album’s opening song -  “just brush off all expectation.” From the first moment of their sophomore release, it is clear that The Linda Lindas are here to defy expectations and challenge the norms.

Groovy, infectious and highly danceable, ‘Do My Thing’ proves that SONS dare to question their hardcore punk sound and are not afraid to experiment. With the prospect of broadening their musical territory for the follow-up album to 2022’s ‘Sweet Boy’ the band contacted Dave McCracken. Known for shaping the sexy groove of dEUS’ classic ‘The Architect’, the British producer has an impressive resume having worked with Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown, A$AP Rocky, Beyoncé and Depeche Mode amongst others. McCracken loved the band’s new demos and, after making several trips to the band’s hometown of Melsele (a small town near Antwerp known for its annual Miss Strawberry competition) to help whip the songs into shape, he invited the band to record in London.SONS greedily feasted on his skills and knowledge. “He took us completely out of our comfort zone,” says singer/guitarist Robin Borghgraef. ‘Do My Thing’, the first single taken from their third album – scheduled for release after the summer – was inspired by an unforgettable night out with McCracken and the fastest-written song on the new record. “It’s about enjoying the moment and just doing your own thing. Sometimes our songs are self-explanatory”, laughs Robin.SONS made a name for themselves in Benelux with their debut album ‘Family’ Dinner’ (2019) and expanded their reach to Germany, France, Switzerland and Greece with the follow-up ‘Sweet Boy’ (2022).Both albums excelled in full-on rock & roll power packed with big hooks, riffs and sing-along choruses. The band has played Rock Werchter, Pukkelpop, Pinkpop, Down The Rabbit Hole, Into the Great Wide Open, Reeperbahn, Trans Musicales and Iceland Airwaves (where they recorded a live session for KEXP). SONS have also been invited to support Royal Blood, Wolfmother, and Jack White.

De druk neemt toe! Dit Hasseltse DJ-collectief wist al meermaals het grondgebied doen daveren. Naast de uitverkochte evenementen brengen ze ook achter de draaitafels een stevige blend van Hard House en groovy Trance met Speed- en UK-Garage, kortom alle benodigde ingrediënten om de benen aan het dansen te krijgen. 

Alycia Bezgo is an emerging talent in the electronic music scene, known for her passion and innovative approach. Based in Brussels, she skillfully blends the driving rhythms of hard groove, techno, and trance to create engaging performances that resonate with audiences. Her musical journey began in childhood, influenced by her father, a former DJ. This early exposure sparked her interest in music, leading her to explore various genres and develop her unique style. Since 2023, she has actively refined her mixing skills and embraced opportunities to grow as an artist.Alycia’s sets are characterized by groovy vibes and high energy. Drawing inspiration from the nostalgic sounds of the '90s, she incorporates familiar elements that connect with listeners. With a talent for intertwining danceable beats, Alycia creates an energetic environment that appeals to both new and seasoned fans. She has performed at notable venues such as HOR, Mondo disko and Hangar. Each performance demonstrates her ability to read the crowd and tailor her sets for maximum impact.

The young DJ, Producer, Label Head, and Party Starter Franck is here for a party and he's not messing about. After transitioning into his new techno alias around the beginning of 2021 he has gone on to do great things and put Scottish techno firmly back on the map!Starting out, he released a slew of self-releases with notable tracks including Dread, Get Down and Magnolia Tool, all racking up hundreds of thousands of streams each. He then collaborated with fellow Scottish producer AISHA to release Helfy Rapid EP, with each track receiving a great response. However, it wasn't until his most recent release that he would be propelled to stardom. Signed to the German outfit R-Label Group, his Hear The Sound EP has taken the techno world by storm. The lead and title track has been played by the biggest DJs in the game including Charlotte de Witte, Shlomo, VTSS, Somewhen, KI/KI, Kobosil and Cera Khin just to name a few. Every one of the four tracks in the EP has taken a spot in Beatports Hard Techno Top 20 with Hear The Sound claiming the number one spot and in its first week, the release amassed a quarter of a million streams across platforms. With his followers multiplying each day, it's safe to say Franck has promoted himself into the big leagues with the potential techno EP of the year.On top of DJ'ing and Producing, he runs the event series and record label Carouse. Having hosted some of the top DJs in the world and had several releases over the years, Franck has a lot more planned with Carouse in both functions. The leg work was most certainly completed in 2022 and 2023 looks set to be his breakout year as gigs and festivals around the world are already being booked in! What's next, we will just need to wait and see!

Gigolo means Playboy, but the word originally derives from the ancient French “Gigole” which used to mean Dancing Woman. This makes DJ Gigola both, a dancing woman and a playboy. Where others see tension and contradiction, DJ Gigola sees a chance for creation. In her playful way of breaking down boundaries, she hits the Zeitgeist of a generation that continuously transforms and recontextualises seemingly fixed concepts and stereotypes. As a result, both her sets and productions are quint-essentially genre-fluid. Her critically acclaimed cutting edge releases take a hybrid approach, successfully blending boundaries between Dance and Pop music. On a night out, you might hear DJ Gigola mix Madonna out of an old Bonzai record and back into Surgeon all within 5 minutes. Her sets are enigmatic and reflect a natural sense of curiosity – eager to explore, she does not shy away from experimenting. As playful as DJ Gigola’s selection may seem, however, she rigorously weaves together seemingly disperse tracks with one common thread: rhythm. She experiences music primarily through the rhythmic structure emergent from patterns of percussion rather than layers of melodic harmonies. This deep understanding for rhythm and groove, combined with her multi-facetted knowledge of music and curious audacity to try new things makes DJ Gigola one of the most exciting DJs to experience on a dance floor. 

A mysterious luminary within Berlin’s pulsating club scene, horsegiirL stands as a revered DJ and producer, her identity veiled by the mystique of her horse mask. Behind this veil, a series of viral hits such as ‘My Barn My Rules,’ and ‘My Little White Pony’ come to life, seamlessly blending the contours of future-pop with the rhythm of techno club traditions. Unveiling her sonic manifesto through the debut EP ‘Farm Fantasies’ in 2022 and her track ‘starsiigns’, horsegiirL is redefining the musical landscapes. She represents a new wave of electronic artists that prioritise the fun and kitschy, that counters the more serious approach that often permeates the electronic music scene. Boasting a staggering 20 million global streams, and over 41,000 sales in the UK alone, horsegiirL has solidified her presence as a force to be reckoned with. Her music has resonated strongly in key streaming markets, including the UK, US, Germany, Australia, and the Netherlands.Her singles have seen remarkable success on various Spotify Viral charts, claiming the top spot on six different charts, including those in the UK, Ireland, Australia, Denmark, New Zealand, and Lithuania. Her influence has extended across the globe, with appearances on more than 20 viral charts worldwide.horsegiirL’s work has been featured prominently in curated playlists, amassing millions of followers. Notable inclusions range from Dance Rising (2 million followers) to Massive Dance Hits (1.3 million followers), and Summer Hits UK 2023 (700,000 followers), among others. Her impact on the Apple Music Electronic Chart in the UK is evident, peaking at an impressive #30.horsegiirL’s tracks have garnered significant attention on a multitude of flagship playlists across various territories, including danceXL (13 territories, including the US), Glitch (5 territories, including the UK and US), Electronic Pop (5 territories, including the US), and the Jax Jones Playlist (5 territories, including the UK and US). Additionally, her music has found its way into numerous other influential Amazon playlists such as Viral Hits, XLR8, Sounds Of Summer, Dance UK, Fresh Dance, Club Rules, and Nectar.In the realm of radio, horsegiirL has received substantial support, with their tracks receiving 943 spins and amassing an impressive 14.2 million impressions. Notably, they've been championed by BBC Radio 1, with 44 spins across shows like Danny Howard, Jeremiah Asiamah, Dance Anthems, and Party Anthems, to name a few. The impact of her music extends beyond streaming and radio, with a substantial presence on Shazam. Her tracks have been tagged an impressive 327,000 times globally, and have peaked at #9 on the Shazam Dance Chart, as well as #23 on the Shazam UK Top 200. In the US, she’s secured the #9 spot on the Shazam US Dance Chart. horsegiirL has also made a significant mark in the realm of social media, with TikTok users creating over 170,000 videos featuring her music, which collectively garnered over a billion views. Her influence hasn't gone unnoticed in the media either, with features in reputable publications such as i-D and Dazed. Furthermore, she’s showcased her talents with a Mixmag DJ Mix, further solidifying her position as a notable figure in the electronic music world.

Duality has always been key for clubland’s cupids DJ HEARTSTRING. Whether it’s their balance between melancholy and euphoria, the way in which the German duo bring pop bangers to the dancefloor, or their crossover appeal that makes them equally as at home on big festival stages as playing Berghain, producers, DJs and songwriters Leo and Jonas have always played to each other’s strengths. However, long before they became globe-touring artists with tens of millions of streams who can turn a Berlin corner shop into a tiny rave (with the help of pop icons Sugababes), they were two friends making music for fun. Growing up in a small village without a clubbing scene, Leo instead discovered EDM and artists like Deadmau5 by playing the video game DJ Hero and, aged 16, seeing Netsky perform at a festival. Watching everyone there dancing to his music made Leo think it must be the best feeling on earth. Inspired, he asked his parents for a set of turntables and later received Fruity Loops as a Christmas present. After a six-month music production course, Leo moved to Berlin, found its techno scene and was introduced to city native Jonas who, formerly a fan of alternative rock and German hip-hop, was a regular at renowned underground clubs Magdalena and Tresor. Having been introduced to electronic music via Paul Kalkbrenner’s movie ‘Berlin Calling’, he got into production and was throwing open air parties with friends; alongside one pal, Jonas was booked to DJ a small 18-plus party when they were just 16. After several years of hanging out, it wasn’t until clubs closed in 2020 that Leo and Jonas started messing around making tunes together – though, crucially, they didn’t put pressure on themselves. Realising they could do everything using just a laptop, they bounced onto the scene in 2021 with their Trance Dance Music (TDM) sound. With a generation of new fans hungry for increased BPMs, the pair - who came up with their artist moniker after brainstorming the most cliché, cheesy, trance-sounding names possible - quickly found their hard-and-fast primed audience. Keeping their faces obscured from social media in the early days also made clear that, while they might not take themselves too seriously, it’s all about the music. When venues reopened, the duo’s euphoric yet emotionally-charged hits and high-energy nostalgia-tinged DJ sets - which typically feature unreleased tunes, tracks by like-minded artists and a big hands-in-the-air Coldplay moment - not only made them stand out from the crowd, but proved a tonic for ravers ready to let loose post-pandemic. Leo and Jonas have similarly made up for lost time: in 2024, they played Japan, Europe and America, and went viral with their Boiler Room Melbourne set; this year, they’ll make their Thailand/southeast Asia debut, head to South America for the first time, play a string of festivals and tour North America. Despite such a packed schedule, artistic evolution remains key for the duo whose next EP, the emotion-filled ‘You Are The Sun, I Am The Sky’, is the result of the pair locking themselves away in an Airbnb in the German countryside. Doing nothing except making music (and eating frozen pizzas) resulted in a four-track collection of loved-up dancefloor heaters. Ravey opener‘Emotion Overload’ not only gets the party popping but truly lives up to the intensity of its name, embodying the duo’s hard trance sound as synths build to a huge earworm hook before the whole thing explodes with untamed elation. ‘Last Time Under Purple Skies’ is sure to have strangers hugging, eyes-closed, beneath neon strobes, and peak-time pumper ‘Green Wide Open’ is a surefire bet for this year’s summer anthem thanks to its Ibiza-ready hedonism. Bringing the EP to a close, the comparatively reflective ‘Stay Awake’ is destined to soundtrack that moment before the club light’s come back on – one last rush before the end of the night. To celebrate its release, DJ HEARTSTRING will play their biggest show to date in February: a Valentine’s Day rave at London’s 3,000-capacity Camden Roundhouse that’s likely to get tears falling on the dancefloor, and plenty of calls to ex-partners. Encapsulating the pair’s live, laugh, love vibe perfectly, Jonas has the last word: “we just want people to feel something!”

In a scene choked by formulae, we need voices that cut through the noise to present something unapologetically true and devoutly non-conformist. In his singular path as an artist, I Hate Models swerves standardised structures and instead focuses on emotional response. The energy of club music serves as a vessel for his own feelings and a tool to manipulate others with. The spectrum of moods expressed – in his productions, DJ sets and on his label Disco Inferno – veers from nostalgia and passion to loneliness, melancholia and brutality, often juxtaposing darkness and light in the same pulse as anauthentic conduit of his own artistic self-assessment. On his journey thus far, IHM has released music on labels ranging from Arts to Perc Trax, who carried his 2019 album L’Âge Des Métamorphoses. He’s also remixed artists such as Depeche Mode, while his monster edit of the track 'Toro' has taken the world by storm. It's a fitting clarion call for the relentless rush of monolithic gigs he undertakes, headlining monumental global festivals such as Ultra and EDC as a top-billing emblem for the bleeding edge of hard dance and its legions of worldwide devotees. At every turn, his disregard for expectations and conventions has resulted in dynamic, ambitious music that feasts on the flesh of techno, industrial and trance without ever becoming beholden to one source. Within the microcosm of one track, the energy can shift from bruising rhythm to swooning ambience and back again – cascades of pearlescent melody giving way to shards of sheet metal, thunderous percussion offset by softly sculpted sine waves. Unafraid of reinventing himself, he'll lean into stylistics shifts like the boldly emotive Forever Melancholia EP and make them a natural part of his artistic arc. That the further adventures of I Hate Models feel entirely open-ended is completely by design – generic constriction is the enemy of genuine catharsis.

Jeroen Delodder is al dik twintig jaar DJ en al meer dan tien jaar de stem en het gezicht van de elektronische muziek op Studio Brussel. Met de breedste collectie van de Belgische dancescene mixt hij onverwoestbare anthems van vroeger aan het hipste gerief van nu. De vibe is belangrijker dan het genre, al kan je in veel verleidelijke vormen rekenen op een degelijke dosis house, disco en techno.Veel elektronische muziek, dat is zeker. Maar Jeroen beperkt zich niet tot één sound: als het goed is, is het goed. Zonder regels kiest hij voor elk moment en elke plaats de juiste nummers. Hij speelt altijd voor het publiek en toch selecteert hij niet op basis van streamingcijfers of logaritmes: generische glijers staan op andere sticks. Jeroen kiest en deelt zijn muziek vanuit het hart, de buik en de heupen. Op gevoel: want genres doen er niet toe. Na meer dan twee decennia in de meest uiteenlopende DJ booths kan hij als geen ander verschillende crowds lezen.Zijn sets noemt hij we-time. Samen met het publiek. Vriendschappen voor het leven of voor even. Sta je bij Jeroen op de dansvloer, dan hoor je toekomstmuziek en krijg je tegelijk souvenirs te horen uit muziektijden die je niet zelf lijkt te hebben meegemaakt. Momenten voor altijd en onvergetelijk in het nu.Jeroen is de vaste afsluiter op de slotdag van Extrema Outdoor en draaide al (meer dan) drie keer op al deze festival- en clubpodia: Fuse, Wecandance, Paradise City, Kompass Klub, T omorrowland, Lokerse Feesten, Rock Werchter, Ostend Beach, Charlatan en Bonnefooi. Een kleurrijke karavaan van plaatsen waar in 2024 nog heel wat nieuws bij kwam: Jeroen maakte dat jaar zijn debuut op Pukkelpop (Closing Set in de Boiler) en speelde voor het eerst op Campo Solar en op Dranouter (Closing Set). In 2024 mocht hij ook voor het eerst zijn eigen Disco Donderdag-podium hosten op Tomorrowland.Jeroen komt met dancetracks uit het piepjonge heden of het donkergrijze verleden. Maar net zo goed wordt hij de verrassende DJ-entertainer die met smaak een verrassende all round party set draait: van een 8 uur durende set op het strand bij de surfclub tot een uitverkochte all night long set in Het Leienpaleis in Antwerpen, van de gekke 24u non stop DJ-set op Studio Brussel tot de after van de after van La Rocca op 1 januari. Kleine intieme privé parties, trouwfeesten in Rusland en op Ibiza, de toren van de Vlasmarkt tijdens de Gentse Feesten of een vinyl only set voor een selecte groep van Louis Vuitton-klanten: Jeroen draait overal waar de muziek hem brengt. Van Kroatië (Dimensions Festival) tot Eindhoven (Pixl Club) en van Barcelona (Off Sonar) tot London (xoyo club) en, dichter bij je bedje, van Alken tot Koksijde.

She The DJ is a vibrant talent known for her innovative mixes of house, UK garage, breaks, and all kinds of broken beats. From an early age, her deep-rooted passion for music led her to discover DJing in her early twenties, setting her on a path to create a sound that’s both fresh and dynamic.Her show, “Blissful Beats,” on We Are Various showcases her skill in blending genres and curating engaging sets. She has captivated audiences at festivals like Pukkelpop nd Horst Festival, and has shared the stage with renowned artists such as Shy One, AceMoMa, Octo Octa, Lefto Early Bird, Anz, and many more. With a commitment to continuous growth and a quest for new music and influences, She The DJ is definitely one to watch.

Considered by many as being at the forefront of her own movement, Jyoty has become a trailblazer in dance music globally. From her beginnings in radio; now eight years on London’s Rinse FM, to headlining festivals and hosting sold-out stages around the world, Jyoty’s inimitable skill as a DJ, musical selector, curator, and interviewer has won her a following worldwide. The Amsterdam-born, London-based DJ's rise to becoming one of the underground's most loved figures is a story of sheer dedication. Her introduction came through online channel Boiler Room, where her personality managing the door at events landed her a spot hosting shows for the burgeoning platform. A regular spot on the world-renowned radio station Rinse FM soon followed, where her knack for discovering new music and ability to connect with guests shone through, quickly racking up regular listeners from all over the globe in their thousands. As a born grafter, when she isn't selling out headline shows the world over at venues such as London’s KOKO, Amsterdam’s Paradiso, and Barcelona’s Razzmatazz, as well as hosting her very own stages at Glastonbury Festival, and headlining other festivals globally, Jyoty is dedicated to using her platform to give back to communities. In a nod to her Indian heritage, she has hosted DJ workshops for women in Calcutta alongside the British Council, and taught a six-week course for young British Asian women looking to break into the music industry. Of these experiences, she says: "Passing on knowledge and experience is key to making a real change in music.” In just a few years, Jyoty has become a force in the industry in her own right. From the release of her first remix to sold-out headline tours in Europe, Australia, and North America, to being requested by the likes of Burberry, Jacquemus, GANNI, and Prada to lead various musical experiences, Jyoty is proving herself as someone who is showing no signs of slowing down, and most definitely doesn’t wish to be seen as any one particular thing. Jyoty is here to represent good music and isn’t limiting how she does that.

Scream from New York, NY, the first album by Been Stellar, is a remarkably brutal debut – bruised and volatile, it captures an image of ‘20s New York that’s unrelenting and harsh, where tenderness is a finite resource burned up by the machinery of the city and human connection is a luxury product. Leaving behind the driving shoegaze of their early recordings, the NYC-based five-piece tap into the disaffected sound and spirit of New York luminaries like Sonic Youth and Interpol, as well as the nihilistic, yearning cool of Iceage and Bends-era Radiohead, striking upon a sound that’s fearsome, buffeting and beautiful at the same time – a tidal wave as viewed from underneath. As its wry title implies, Scream from New York, NY, is a record about what happens when language fails – between friends, partners, a city and its citizens – and the primal scream you might let out when words just don’t work anymore. Guitarist Skyler Knapp, vocalist Sam Slocum, Brazilian-born guitarist Nando Dale, bass player Nico Brunstein and drummer Laila Wayans met as undergrads at NYU, bonding over a shared sense of humor and forming a motley crew based more on emotional compatibility than any rigid ideas of shared artistic sensibility. Finding that last vestiges of the city’s famed 2000s and 2010s DIY underground had been ground down to nothing, the band put on their own shows, renting spaces and collaborating with friends to build the world they wanted to inhabit.Determined to break new sonic ground, the band embarked on a relentless practice schedule, even renting scrappy studios on days off during tours with Fontaines DC and Shame. After befriending him at SXSW, the band tapped producer Dan Carey (black midi, Wet Leg) to help coalesce the disparate elements of their sound that had been percolating: forceful, driving physicality; pop classicism; gnarled beauty; and a rich emotional core. The resulting 10-song album announces Been Stellar as gimlet-eyed chroniclers of contemporary youth, staring through noise and confusion into the dark heart of modern life. These songs embody the spirit of a city that makes and breaks its inhabitants on a daily basis - an irony befitting the album’s tone: Been Stellar’s preternatural ability to capture the disconnection that haunts New York with photorealist detail might just be the thing that vaults them into its pantheon. 

Where his 2020 debut record Live Forever introduced the experiences and places that shaped Bartees Strange (Flagey, Brussels; Mustang, Oklahoma), Farm to Table zeros in on the people – specifically his family – and those closest to him on his journey so far. With his career firmly on the ascent, Farm to Table examines Bartees’ constantly shapeshifting relationship with life post-Live Forever. It also speaks to a deeper lore that says, don’t forget where you came from, and this album is why. Across 10 songs, Bartees is celebrating the past, moving towards the future and fully appreciating the present.ABOUT BARTEES STRANGE:Born Bartees Leon Cox Jr. in Ipswich, England to a military father and opera-singer mother Bartees had a peripatetic early childhood before eventually settling in Mustang, Oklahoma. Later, Bartees cut his teeth playing in hardcore bands in Washington D.C. and Brooklyn whilst working in the Barack Obama administration and (eventually) the environmental movement. Since charting a path as a solo artist, Bartees Strange has released two records in quick succession: an EP reimagining songs by The National (Say Goodbye To Pretty Boy, 2020) and his debut album proper Live Forever (2020).

Formed in Boston in 1993 by Geoff Farina, Eamonn Vitt and Gavin McCarthy, Karate added Jeff Goddard on bass in 1995. The band released six studio albums, two EPs, numerous singles, and split 7”s between 1994 and 2005. From punk roots, the band ventured widely—veering into jazz-rock, post-rock and a unique version of slowcore in its progressive indie experimentation.Vitt left for med school in 97 and Farina called the band quits in 2005 because of hearing issues.Something happened in the meantime. The band’s albums on Southern Records went out of print. And the label’s founder John Loder passed in 2005, complicating things. In 2020, a Chicago Reader article noticed Karate’s albums were fetching rare vinyl prices online. Longtime fans the Numero Group stepped in and offered to help the band get its albums back—literally sending a van to the North of England to pick up Karate’s master tapes.Karate reunited in 2022 to support the re-release of its music on Numero Group. Time Expired, a 5-LP set, focused on the trio’s later albums and EPs. The Complete Studio Recordings released in 2023, gathered all six studio albums, singles, and compilation tracks in a deluxe CD set.While a box set might be a nice way to tie a bow on a band story and move on, the men in Karate discovered they had more to say.Make It FitThe band re-emerges in Fall 2024 with Make It Fit, its first new studio record since 2004’s Pockets.Things have changed since 2004, however. Now living thousands of miles apart, Farina, Goddard and McCarthy couldn’t hop down the street to their Boston neighborhood practice space and patiently hammer improvisations into shape as songs. Karate’s members are distributed around the globe—Geoff Farina lives in Chicago, Gavin McCarthy remains in Boston and Jeff Goddard lives in Belgium. The band had to write and rehearse Make It Fit remotely with intermittent meets.Karate embraced a hybrid approach to rehearsing. Members hashed out parts in their individual home studios, digitally sharing ideas for Farina’s songs and meeting periodically to rehearse them, not always as a trio. That created some surprise moments—the first time Farina heard one fabulous Goddard bassline was when the band had convened in Iceland to play shows there.While Karate’s reunion tours have been remarkably smooth, making an album presented some challenges. By the time the group arrived in Nashville, TN in January 2024 to track the album with longtime collaborator Andy Hong, the trio had demoed the songs a few times and felt confident. That initial optimism was dampened, and anxiety amplified when the trio remembered a detail: Hong was still building his studio. Much of Hong’s recording gear was packed in shrink-wrap. He’d need time to get the studio up and running. And Karate’s members had a day to stress and wonder if they’d hit a concrete barrier on reunion road. “Why don’t we ever record in a fancy studio where everything is ready to go when we arrive, and we have two weeks to record ten songs? We don’t seem to ever do that,” Farina notes. “That would be too easy,” replies McCarthy, “Plus Andy works at a higher level. This is normal to him.”The band kept its faith in Hong. In 24 hours, he had completely wired the new studio, and the four soon fell into a familiar and comfortable routine they had practiced on their better-known records. Karate completed basic tracks in Nashville. Farina added guitars and vocals back at his home studio and the Experimental Sound Studio in Chicago. And Hong mixed the album.Make It Fit, the band’s first album in 20 years, doesn’t try to recapture a youthful, DIY-era magic. Instead, it picks up where Karate’s three musicians are today: with a deeper skillset, adult angst cut through with moments of joy, punctuated with searing instrumental performances.Make It Fit is the opposite of a cynical cash-in. It’s daring, requiring a full commitment from band and audience. And Karate’s reunion is soaking in gratitude. This time around, Farina says he appreciates it all more. “I appreciate that I’m playing a show. I used to get up on stage and be annoyed at this and be annoyed at that. Now I get up on stage and feel incredibly lucky. Just being able to do it again is so much fun. Just hearing us together on stage feels so right.

Since 2018, High Vis has polished their progressive hardcore sound with shades of post-punk, Brit pop, neo-psychedelia, and even Madchester groove, mapping a middle ground between hooks and fury, melodies and mosh pits. In 2019, High Vis released their debut album No Sense No Feeling, which broadened the scope of the hardcore veterans beyond scene while creating self-described “post-industrial-Britain misery punk.” The celebrated follow up, 2022’s Blending includes the tracks “Talk For Hours” and “Trauma Bonds” and not only expands upon the sonic breadth of High Vis, but vocalist Sayle opened his chest cavity through his lyrics discussing social issues and political miseries while reaching a hand out to folks listening to give a message of hope.On Guided Tour, High Vis sounds like a band reaching for new heights, bristling with energy. Recorded across a few weeks at Holy Mountain Studios in London with producer Jonah Falco and engineer Stanley Gravett (who also helmed the sessions for High Vis’ Blending), the results feel dynamic and dialed-in, like anthems burned into sense memory through sweat and repetition. The album’s 11 songs span the spectrum of contemporary guitar music, sharpened by experience, camaraderie, and societal frustrations. From swaggering street punk to jangling indie sneer to heavy alt to shoegazey spoken word, the group’s chemistry transmutes any style to their unique intensity.

Mogwai formed in 1995 in Glasgow. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, vocals), Barry Burns (guitar, piano, synthesizer, vocals), Dominic Aitchison (bass guitar) and Martin Bulloch (drums). Since 1997, the band have released ten studio albums, with their most recent, 2021’s As The Love Continues, being a commercial and critical success, reaching number 1 on the Official UK Album Charts, amassing a Mercury Prize nomination and winning the Scottish Album of the Year award.The band have also contributed to and written scores for projects with Amazon Prime and Apple TV+. Earlier this year, it was announced that Blazing Griffin, Adler Entertainment, Rock Action Records and Screen Scotland had completed post-production of Mogwai: If The Stars Had A Sound, a first documentary about the band, directed by longtime collaborator Antony Crook. The documentary had its World Premiere at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, in March 2024 and is currently being shown at film festivals across the world.Mogwai have recently been in the studio recording new music.

DJ St. Paul gelooft niet in genres. Een overtuiging die hem de geboren host maakt van zijn eigen stage op het Best Kept Secret Festival. Maar ook Lowlands, TivoliVredenburg en Club Smederij behoren tot zijn vaste adressen. Een persoonlijk hoogtepunt voor hem blijven zijn optredens als official support act van Tame Impala. En natuurlijk zijn terugkeer naar Pukkelpop. Samen met VJ Liza Renee. Let it happen! 

As Brat-Pop continues to dominate, So Good is at the forefront of the scene’s London attack. Teaming up with songwriting and production heavyweights Marching Ghost Music, her provocative lyrics and explosive performance have stormed both Tik Tok and Instagram at the end of 2024, gaining recognition from artists and celebrities alike. Fiercely DIY, So Good continues her viral growth, with plans to self-release all new music on her own label. Fearsome and fearless So Good will be spreading her explosive live show across Europe this year with sights set on the rest of the world thereafter..

Chloe Slater is a 21-year-old singer-songwriter on the rise, carving her path in the realm of independent music. Born and raised in Bournemouth, she has been writing songs since she was 13 years old. After moving to Manchester for University, she found her voice in the effervescent open mic scene and has since been collaborating closely with writer/producer Jack Shute.Her recent debut EP, 'You Can't Put A Price On Fun', encapsulates a grungy, indie-cool vibe, blending Chloe's distinctive style with meaningful lyricism. The EP explores themes of youth, identity, and the complexities of modern society, offering a vivid glimpse into Chloe's introspective world. Standout tracks like 'Price On Fun' resonate with wit and poignancy, delivering sharp commentary on contemporary challenges. 'Nothing Shines On This Island' presents a youthful critique of British politics with its gritty production and thought-provoking lyrics, while '24 Hours' features a powerful alt-pop chorus that resonates with today's younger generation. Chloe's music boldly addresses social disparities and societal issues with a unique blend of humor and insight.Chloe Slater recently graced the stages of Glastonbury's BBC Music Introducing and supported Courtney Barnett across London and Manchester. Her track 'Price On Fun' garnered acclaim as BBC Introducing Track of the Week on BBC Radio 1 and recently highlighted as ‘the firebrand songwriter that’s about to be everywhere’ in NME's Radar feature. As Chloe continues to shed light on often overlooked issues, 2024 promises even more from this talented artist. With her distinctive sound and insightful lyricism, she is poised for a breakout year and set to make a mark in the music scene.

Change can be volatile, overwhelming, wonderful and heartbreaking – but above all else, it can open a portal into a new season of life. The past few months for Nieve Ella have felt similar, as though everything turned on its head and time started to move faster by the day. Out of all this comes the 21-year-old’s transformational new EP Watch It Ache and Bleed, a collection of invigorating indie-rock anthems brimming with raw feeling; it's the sound of a young, determined woman ready to go out into the world with a whole new perspective on what ambition and desire mean to her. In just two short years, the West Midlands singer-songwriter has galvanised a legion of devout fans thanks to her wit and electrifying stage presence. An accomplished self-taught guitarist with a finely-tuned ear for a soaring hook, Ella’s lyrics recall the candid songwriting of Sam Fender. By writing astutely about growing pains, unfiltered impulses and those first real, unexpected breakups with sincerity and flair, she extends a helping hand to listeners going through similar journeys of growth. Melding Nineties influences such as Liz Phair and Veruca Salt with an innate ear for pop melodies, Watch It Ache and Bleed details the rocky road of heartbreak in eviscerating detail. Yet the EP also celebrates courage, and the bravery required to realise you're not quite getting what you deserve. “The person I was with... it was quite lovely and wholesome,” she says. “But when I was realising that I shouldn’t be in this relationship anymore, I was like: ‘Oh, I want to do all of the fun stuff’. The things a 21-year-old should be doing.” Many of Watch It Ache and Bleed’s boldest moments are “power moves” that bask in the joy of taking charge of your destiny. What ties it all together is a newfound confidence from Ella; a sense of contentment and belief in exactly who she is. “It's a celebration of this idea that she can f**king get what she needs! And if she has to go out and find it, then she will.” An empowering journey into a self-assured new era, this eight-track release builds on last year’s pair of EPs – 2023’s Lifetime of Wanting and Young & Naive – to unearth Ella’s bravest, most uplifting songwriting to date. Following a sold-out headline tour, an impressive festival season including a celebrated set at TRNSMT, and opening slots for the likes of Dylan and Inhaler, Ella is now gearing up for the release alongside her biggest gigs yet: opening for Girl in Red on her upcoming September arena tour.Watch It Ache and Bleed was crafted with the dizzying, freeing energy of the stage in mind – it’s the environment for which the EP was made. On the road, she has cultivated a fiercely dedicated and vocal fan following: dozens of online fan accounts later, fans patiently queuing all day and sharing gifts with each other ahead of her shows is a regular sight. But long before she was selling out headline tours in under ten minutes, or rapidly rising to notoriety with early standout singles such as Car Park and His Sofa, Ella grew up in a “sweet little village” in Shropshire; the sort of place where she felt that pursuing a career in music was unheard of. Growing up, she felt like an outsider; while her schoolmates hung out together, she preferred helping out her mum, who is a hairdresser, in her salon. “I used to make really silly faces, and I was always the class clown, or at least I thought I was,” she says. “But I grew up so fast because of my mum being a single parent, and not having a father figure. My dad left our house when I was about 3 or 4, and I didn’t really grow up with him: it has always been my mum and my two brothers. That’s what’s normal to me.” The arrival of lockdown skewed Ella’s teenage journey, and she never experienced the usual rites of passages like hitting the clubs when she turned eighteen. Instead, she entered adulthood in a far more introspective headspace, learning who she really was largely by herself, alone in her room, armed with the guitar left to her by her late dad. Often, Ella explains, her relationship with her father crops up in her work, and she finds herself drawing on her grief following his death a decade ago. “It has been 10 years since he died, and I see everything so much more beautifully,” she explains. “He was a musician, too. I am living his dream, because it’s what he wanted to do. That makes me work so much harder, and write so much more passionately.” Ella now understands that her own story holds real power, her voice as a writer becoming more specific over time. Accordingly, Watch It Ache and Bleed’s narrative drifts away from the hollow ache of loss, and instead finds clearer focus in self-empowerment. Though recent single Sugarcoated sees Ella yearning for her childhood and simpler times, the buoyant Sweet Nothings finds her basking in the blissful, rejuvenating glow of an early relationship. “It's a celebration of happiness and feeling lovely in those first two weeks of dating somebody. I’m fantasising about somebody new falling in love with me,” she says of the latter. Ganni Top takes a more hedonistic approach to new beginnings. Here, Ella envisions all the fun to come once she’s cut loose: “you can fill me in the back of your limousine,” she quips on theplayful, grunge-inspired ode to newfound singledom. “Everything in the song is a metaphor for sex,” she says. “I wanted to make it funny, and quite cheeky.” The Things We Say, meanwhile, deals with another kind of emotional fall-out: a friendship break-up. Though platonic splits get far less airtime in popular culture, Ella felt it was just as important to address. By the gnarly Stop Me!, Ella lands on a quiet form of healing; if somebody isn’t willing to put up a fight to keep a relationship alive, it was probably doomed to fail all along. The EP was written and recorded between Finsbury Park and Maidenhead, with collaborators Iain Berryman, Finn Marlow, Jamie Rendle and Hugo Hardy. While the group made a lot of early headway in London, the latter recording space – a DIY-styled location packed with instruments – gave Ella the sense of comfort she needed to complete the release, and reminded her of how she started out: playing guitar in her bedroom, with no expectation for what would happen next. “It’s like therapy,” she says of her songwriting. “After writing, I feel so much lighter. When I write songs, they become these other parts of me, and when other people can relate to that too? It's like magic to me.” And on Watch It Ache and Bleed there’s certainly plenty to relate to; Ella has an effortless knack for skewering the thorny tangle of early adulthood. Emerging artists rarely arrive so fully formed, with such a masterful command over their emotions – she is a powerful, needed figure in British indie, one who makes young people feel seen and heard.

“I just grabbed him when I heard how good he was and gave him no choice but to be in my band,” recalls STONE frontman Fin Power of his first meeting with guitarist Elliot Gill. “I said to him from the start, we’re going to fucking make it, trust me, we’ll put all of our eggs in this basket and we won’t fail.’ You know what, that was nine years ago!”And nine years on, STONE have become slow-motion overnight sensations following two acclaimed ‘punkadonk’ EPs, substantial support from Radio 1, and a raucous, unpredictable live show all building a powerful two-way community between the band and their ever-growing following.On first impressions, Fin is very much their focal point: a young man with such an insatiable lust-for-life that he wants to express all of his thoughts all at once, and who might be found crowd-surfacing seconds into one of their shows, or giving an impromptu on-stage speech with the passion and zeal of a revolutionary. Yet as a band who mean and feel every single lyric they deliver, STONE are the sum of more than just one voice. They couldn’t exist without Elliot, as much Fin’s creative compatriot as he is the yin to his yang; the sensitive guitarist to balance Fin’s self-confessed “laddy lad,” a man undeniably possessed by magnetic rock star charisma.From the other side of Liverpool, drummer Alex Smith is the pulse that holds the band together, sitting in-between their personalities and providing the foundations for the pair to run riot. And from Oxfordshire, bassist Sarah Surridge offers their feminine counterpoint, a now-honorary Scouser who was won over by STONE’s lunatic ambitions when she first joined four years ago. “They spoke with such passion and energy that I knew I wanted to be a part of it, because I could sense it was going to go far.” As she remembers, the boys’ pitch to her was simple: this is Plan A, there is no Plan B aside from trying even harder.Fortunately Plan A is going so well that the release of STONE’s eagerly anticipated debut album ‘Fear Life For A Lifetime’ is now on the horizon. It’s a collection of songs which come together like a coming-of-age narrative - a place that can help people navigate the tumultuous experiences of young adulthood. If you’ve felt love but not always felt you deserved it; if you’ve been ambitious but also wracked with self-doubt; if you’ve been confident at times but crushed by anxiety at others: this is the album for you. Just as importantly, if you’ve ever felt like you don’t belong, STONE offer a community that feels like a welcoming home-from-home.“The shit we’ve all been through is 100% informed by that aspect of just connecting with people,” notes Alex. “A lot of the experiences that I’ve had personally I know echo the experiences of a lot of the kids who come to our gigs and go fucking nuts.”And as we’ve seen from their gigs with Sam Fender, Yungblud, Inhaler, The Wombats and DMA’s as well as at festivals including Glastonbury, BST Hyde Park, Reading and Leeds, STONE kick-up the kind of anarchy perfectly suited to such a cathartic outpouring of energy and emotion. Their music adventurously explores a wealth of alternative genres, moving from vitriolic, post-punk poetry to soaring indie anthems built for pints-in-the-air gig mania and sun-kissed festival fields, along with a hip-hop undercurrent and a punchy, anarchic edge.That exuberant rush translates equally as well throughout their upcoming debut album. STONE recorded its snapshots of British youth culture while immersing themselves into the routine of the small town of Brattleboro, Vermont, where they worked with Rich Costey (Sam Fender, HAIM, Biffy Clyro) during sessions split between three separate trips. No interference from the label or the management: just the escape of being able to focus on the noise of making a record without any outside distractions.The result is an album in which fresh highlights emerge with every listen: see how ‘My Thoughts Go’ fires up the simplistic, most irresistible hook in a way that feels connected to the great lineage of the great Liverpool and Manchester indie heroes who have preceded them. Powered by pounding big beat rhythms and a swaggering youthful attitude of having the world at the your feet, ‘Neva Gunna Die’ is darker yet just as instantly captivating, while ‘Queen’ fuses sweet, saturated synths with a sparkling classic rock riffs and a spoken word breakdown to create a moment infused with echoes of every decade from the ‘60s onwards, but firmly rooted in the present day.That style is reprised in another future smash with ‘Roses’, while other standouts include the reflective, melancholy ‘Say It Out Loud’ and a dramatic portrait of urban paranoia with the angular attack of ‘Train’.Fin sums it up: “This album is about community, passion, love, hate, singing, dancing. It speaks for all of our experiences, we want to only portray who we really are. I’m hoping people can relate to it and understand it, and maybe find their own stories through our songs. It also shows that no mountain is too high to climb, and no problem is too hard to solve. We mean what we say and we want to be a voice for those who are misunderstood.”What’s more, it’s not just talk. The band members have all been deeply invested in the Liverpool community, with Fin previously working as a social worker, Alex as a teacher, and STONE playing charity shows in support of Rape Crisis and MIND. Meanwhile, Elliot continues to volunteer at a local youth club where he teaches youngsters guitar and helps set up what he calls “early embryonic gig opportunities to teach kids that they too can go out and play a show. You don’t think being in a band is feasible until you do it.”“We definitely want to continue that sense of altruism,” he continues, “especially as things progress with STONE. We have an incredible opportunity and all these new privileges, so I feel it would be remiss if we didn’t give something back.  Supporting the local community is something we don’t want to lose sight of.”That determined, all-in-it together community spirit extends to their live shows. As Fin asserts, “The show doesn’t finish when we come off-stage, the show carries on until we’re back in the van.  We’re there for our fans until they decide to leave. We’re not done until we make sure that every single fan who wants a photo or a conversation gets that. We’ll keep doing that until it’s physically impossible.”Integrity. Passion. Charisma. A palpable shared bond. A catalogue of killer songs. Giving it everything at live shows. STONE are now perfectly positioned to capitalise on the ambition that Fin and Elliot shared when they first met.As Elliot asserts, it shows that ambitions can be realised. “Society doesn’t have the reverence of the creative arts being a job. A lot of people don’t really see musicians doing it professionally and assume it’s just a lucky few who can do it. But it’s not. Everything we’re now doing speaks to our efforts, our passion, and the opportunities we have created for ourselves.”Fin’s concluding thoughts on STONE’s future brim with the optimism that comes with infinite potential. “We don’t worry about metrics, we’re artists. Our art will be out in the world and it can be perceived in whatever way people want it to be perceived. Wherever the motion of the ocean takes us, we’ll just keep making our art and writing songs.”

Zangeres, muzikante en actrice Pommelien Thijs (24) is een van de meest toonaangevende jonge artiesten van het moment. Ze is bekend van megahits als “Erop of Eronder”, “Ongewoon” en “Het Beste Moet Nog Komen”. Haar doorbraakalbum "Per Ongeluk" uit 2023 werd op alle vlakken een triomf: een verzameling vlotte liedjes bomvol levenslust en gevatte zinspreuken. Pommelien maakt zwaardere onderwerpen behapbaar voor alle leeftijden en deinst daarbij niet terug voor de grotere levensdilemma's. Na haar eerdere succes met drie MIAs in 2023, zette Pommelien Thijs haar zegetocht verder in 2024. Ze kaapte vijf MIA awards weg. In 2025 bracht ze haar nieuwe single "Atlas" uit die lovend onthaald werd en ze speelde maar liefst negen keer voor een uitverkochte zaal in de Ancienne Belgique.

When you look back at the sea of mid-noughties indie bands, there are few still standing and even fewer, some fifteen years later, who are still experiencing career highs. But this was the precise spot The Kooks found themselves in, four years ago.After a worldwide arena tour, the release of their 2018 UK Top Ten album 'Let's Go Sunshine' saw the Brighton band topping the bill at festivals across Europe and at home. The streaming boom had opened up The Kooks up to a new audience of young fans who loved their distinctive brand of indie rock and were itching to see them play live.Coming off the back of a punishing tour schedule, frontman, Luke Pritchard — vowed to take a bit of a breather. But instead, found himself right back in the studio."I started going to Berlin for three or four days at a time. I was really affected by Brexit and I wanted to make a bit of a statement by creating a European record," he explains. "We're a European band, we practically lived out there and have so much love for Europe, so we wanted to keep that connection."Berlin has long been something of a creative Mecca for artists from all over the world and Pritchard found himself moving in those circles, meeting the collaborators he would work with on their behemoth of a sixth album, '10 Tracks To Echo In The Dark.' The period was one of work, inspiration and creativity as opposed to partying. "I wasn't doing any drugs," Pritchard attests. "It was more dive bars and a bottle of whiskey than Berghain."The environment quickly started to work its magic. "A lot of songwriters have found refuge in Berlin," he says. "It's a free place, it's not so consumed by commerciality. I was looking for something a bit rawer, a little bit more minimal. Sometimes you just pick up these nuances somewhere. It's not necessarily the people, it's the place."Armed with a new mantra — to not overthink things and just make a record that he'd want to listen to at home, the ideas came freely and easily. Pairing up with Tobias Kuhn to co-write and produce the bulk of the record, their first writing session saw them pen intention-setting lead single, 'Connection,' in just a few hours. Things were moving well with the pair laying down five tracks, but in March 2020, COVID put a stop to Pritchard's European dream, forcing him to return home to the UK to finish the writing sessions over Zoom until Tobias was able to fly out to London and record with him and the rest of the band, Hugh Harris (lead guitar/synthesiser/bass) and Alexis Nunez (drums).Despite the dual locations, there's a distinct Berlin sensibility to '10 Tracks To Echo In The Dark.' Flirting with genres from 80s synth-pop to funk to prog rock, the album is still, at its core, an indie record and a Kooks one, at that.It's a record that doesn't try to reinvent the wheel but takes that classic Kooks sound and adds something of a retro-futurist slant — both sonically and in mindset. It's an album about being hopeful and seeing the great in the world, despite the darkness. There are unapologetic love songs ('Without A Doubt,' 'Oasis'), tracks about partying through pain ('Connection'), terrible exes ('Cold Heart') and even a song for Pritchard's newborn son, Julian. ('Beautiful World'), born prematurely while the band were on tour in Mexico.Getting married and becoming a father you get a sense that we're hearing from a new Pritchard — one whose demons are behind him and is optimistic about the future."I really hope that sense of inner peace comes across," says Pritchard of the album's resoundingly optimistic outlook. "I really want to have fun with my life at this point. But also — it's kinda a reflection of what I was feeling in real-time in a pre-and-post COVID world. I was reading a lot of sci-fi — like Philip K. Dick, Azimov and surreal stuff like Boris Vian — which is obviously really distracting from what's going on in the world, but helped me be imaginative with the songs."It's a relief to hear a healthier perspective from a band who have had their struggles played out in the press for fifteen years. Bagging a slew of top 20 hits in their teens ('Naive,' 'She Moves In Her Own Way') with 2006 quadruple-platinum debut album 'Inside In/Inside Out,' the young band didn't always know how to handle everything that came along with superstardom."Mental health has been a big focus of our band for quite a while now. Because we've all struggled in our own ways. That's not to say we haven't had amazing lives, but just we struggled with fame big time, like really struggled. And we got it wrong a lot of the time."We did get famous quite quickly and we didn't have a lot of the stability required to not let that seriously affect you. All of us, in our own ways, have made some very poor judgements and some really good judgements. And we're here, so it means we've done very well to keep it going and to keep ourselves sane. But I have ultimate compassion for anyone who gets famous anywhere."But as with everyone, there comes a point in life where you reach a sense of stillness, you become more comfortable in your own skin and the right path becomes clear to you. The band have been experimental over the years — most notably on 2014's Inflo-produced jazz-funk album 'Listen' — something that has been key to their longevity, but getting back to what people love about The Kooks was front of Pritchard's mind: whether that person was "a fifteen-year-old kid in South Africa or someone who was at our first concert."The result isn't a rinse and repeat of their earlier sound, though. Instead, we get those infectious Kooks melodies and riffs, but over synths and electronic beats. There's even some saxophone in there, moving their trademark sound well into 2022."Indie is a word we were running from for quite a long time," he admits. "The band's done a lot of different records, but we do have quite a style. A big part of it was not running from anything. We're gonna just do what we do, but better and with a few more fresh ideas."In the studio, he made some rules: not to overcomplicate things, throw in some old-school Kooks riffs, "the very classic, Naive-y kinda stuff, but with more minimalism" and to get back to that noughties thing of treated vocals. "It's not that I hate my voice — I just mainly dislike it. So the more you can disguise it, the better!"Having that focus helped make a cohesive record that leans on the band's legacy while still sounding fresh. "On certain albums you make decisions based on other things and you start trying to chase your own tail. This record isn't about trying to smash everything up and reinvent. COVID hitting in the middle of recording was a good time to kind of really reflect on all our albums and be really happy with our journey."As The Kooks, continue to reach an ever-growing audience of young fans, '10 Tracks To Echo In The Dark' feels like a mission statement. It's a celebration of getting through troubled times and a rallying cry for our future.This is a band whose career highs are still to come. They're right to feel optimistic about what's next and that the future might be a little bit brighter.And the key to seeing fifteen years of success as a band?"Hard work," says Pritchard. "And a lot of luck."

Oscar and the Wolf, under his real name Max Colombie, has often referred to his music as "Disney music for adults." Since his 2014 debut with "Entity," Max has defied genre boundaries, seamlessly blending pop, R&B, EDM, and alternative elements into a unique and celebrated sound. His live performances are magnetic, combining striking visuals with raw, unfiltered emotion. Max's ability to explore both melancholy and euphoria has been a constant throughout his career, from the folk and dream pop of his debut album to the club-infused tracks of "Infinity" (2017) and the sun-soaked synth-pop of "The Shimmer" (2022). With a dedicated following and a presence at major festivals, including Pukkelpop and Tomorrowland, Max's influence extends beyond music, as he has crafted soundtracks for renowned fashion designer Dries Van Noten. In 2023, Oscar and the Wolf made a triumphant return, with their single "Warrior" chosen as the official song for the Belgian National team during the World Cup, delving into Max's personal journey to confront his deepest anxieties.  

Bold pop hooks, sex positivity, honest songwriting, and a heavy dose of glitter make up the world of Chappell Roan, the multi-faceted pop artist taking the world by storm. The LA-based singer, songwriter, and performer exploded into stardom with her 2023 debut studio album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, a technicolor tale of self-discovery that landed on multiple year-end lists (Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Billboard, TIME, more). With her larger-than-life performances surrounding the album, she swiftly built up an impassioned community of listeners, who sell out all her headlining shows in mere hours and scream along to her gutsy anthems. Instead of resting her laurels on fleeting digital moments, she’s intentionally built her own fantastical musical universe—one that celebrates queer expression and honoring your true self—that everyone wants to join in on. Chappell is now gearing up for another momentous year, which will see her playing her biggest venues yet on The Midwest Princess Tour, an instantly sold-out run of U.S. headlining dates this spring and summer. It follows her exuberant Colbert performance of “Red Wine Supernova,” marking her debut television appearance, as well as a slate of spring shows opening for Olivia Rodrigo on the GUTS tour. Chappell will also bring her electrifying vocals to Coachella for the first time this April, kicking off a slew of festival slots throughout the year, including Hangout, Boston Calling, Governors Ball, Pittsburgh Pride, Bonnaroo, and Hinterland. Her cult following is already buzzing in anticipation for what spectacularly campy outfits Chappell will bring to the stage; after all, this is the girl who wore a pig nose prosthetic to the 2024 Grammys red carpet. For her own drag-inspired headlining shows, Chappell sets dress themes, asking each city’s attendees to come decked out in their own fabulous get-ups—whether it’s the pink rhinestone cowgirl “Pink Pony Club” theme or the red-and-black “My Kink Is Karma” theme. These audience-favorite prompts ensure that every night turns into a mass celebration where fans can let their freak flag fly. “It feels like a community,” Chappell says of her shows. “You’re allowed and encouraged to dress up crazy, because everyone else will be too.” A critical smash, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess established Chappell as a breakthrough songwriter who could combine fantasy with heart-bearing self-reflection. Penned by Chappell alongside producer Dan Nigro (Olivia Rodrigo), the project showcases her journey of falling in queer love for the first time, as she embraces all of its messy and imperfect moments. To express the whirlwind ride of her coming-of-age, the LP touches every genre from euphoric dance-pop to introspective acoustic guitar ballads, country-pop and punky new wave. “With this album, I wanted to prove that women in pop are multi-dimensional,” Chappell says. “It’s important for me to show that I’m not just some sexy pop star, I wallow in pain just as much as the next girl.” Growing up in Willard, Missouri, Chappell repressed feelings about her sexuality due to her Christian upbringing. Yet she knew from an early age that she wanted to be an entertainer, so she took acting classes as a kid, picked up the piano at age 12, and became known as “the singer girl” in high school. Then at age 16, she released “Die Young,” a brooding folk hit that brought her a major label record deal, leading to her 2017 debut EP, School Nights, and her move to LA in 2018. “Back then, I liked being mysterious and serious,” she says. Yet Chappell Roan, in all her fabulous glory, truly began to take shape with the 2020 synth-pop smash “Pink Pony Club,” a semi-autobiographical anthem about a small town girl who finds belonging at a West Hollywood go-go bar. Inspired by a visit to an LA gay bar, it was named “song of the summer” by Vulture. Yet soon after, Chappell suddenly found herself an independent artist again. Determined to make it work without a label, she steadily built her audience on her 2022 singles “Naked in Manhattan,” “My Kink Is Karma,” and “Casual,” which were praised for their “high drama and meticulous melody-writing” (LA Times). Ahead of Midwest Princess, she signed with Nigro’s Amusement Records, an imprint of Island Records, and continued to forge her career, fueled with the fire of her own creative vision and integrity. Inspired by everything from Bratz dolls, burlesque, and Hannah Montana, the Chappell Roan universe is now built on all the gaudy, sparkly, fun things that Chappell cherished when she was little. “I’m just trying to honor my inner child who thought she wasn’t worth anything, and prove to her that she actually is a really good person,” she concludes.

As one of the most successful British bands of the last decade Chase & Status have achieved widespread notoriety and universal respect for their achievements. Consummate professionals at every level, Will Kennard and Saul Milton, are contemporary vanguards of UK electronic music. Together they’ve channelled their deep-rooted passion for rave culture into five highly-acclaimed, best-selling albums, an incendiary live show and a wide range of projects that have established them as an iconic outfit. 

 Vanuit de rijke Belgische klei heeft dit drietal met zelfvertrouwen een eigen plek gecreëerd waar experiment en scherpe popgevoeligheid perfect samengaan. Het Antwerpse trio - Anne-Sophie Ooghe (zang, gitaar), Dieter Beerten (zang, drums) en Koen Weverbergh (bas) - begon met een dromerige, door shoegaze geïnspireerde stijl die zich gaandeweg ontwikkelde tot een subtiele balans tussen introspectie en hooks.Hun karakteristieke geluid - herkenbaar maar toch moeilijk te categoriseren - viel op bij M83 en kenner Steve Lamacq, wiens vroege ondersteuning op de BBC voor internationale erkenning zorgde.Het werk van de band, vooral het doorbraakalbum "Firepool" en de ambitieuzere opvolger "Return to Dust", toont een groep die consequent grenzen verlegt zonder toegankelijkheid te verliezen. In een indielandschap dat steeds meer op herhaling gaat, hebben ze een eigen terrein afgebakend - wat suggereert dat hun meest indrukwekkende werk nog moet komen.

Electrifying Los Angeles trio Palaye Royale today share their highly anticipated fourth studio album “Death or Glory” via Sumerian Records. Across a series of increasingly bold records, the band have laid out their grand rock & roll vision inspired by everyone from The Libertines to The Rolling Stones, by way of My Chemical Romance. Those first four records were driven by a desire to prove just how much the band could actually do, nailing everything from epic heartbreak to snarling vengeance. 2020’s genre-hopping The Bastards showcases a band out to take on the world while 2022’s Fever Dream takes rebellious punk rock and twists it around orchestral beauty. By contrast, new album Death Of Glory has absolutely nothing to prove. Inspired by years of chaotic, communal gigs, album five sees Palaye Poyale comfortable in their own skin. “We’ve learned that writing radio hits or soundtracking viral moments on social media is great, but we don’t need to chase those things. We’ve got this dedicated fanbase, and that’s the most important thing,” says Remington. “Death Or Glory is definitely our most confident record.” It's also their most fun. Following the success of the sprawling Fever Dream world tour, the Palaye Royale brothers and touring bassist Logan Baudean reconnected with guitarist Dave Green, who played with the band on their first ever tour. They set up shop in his garage studio alongside producer Matt Squire and “got back to the roots of the band,” says Sebastian Danzig. “We just had so much freedom.” In one day, they wrote the party-starting rave of Pretty Stranger and the empowering snarl of Death & Glory, setting the tone for everything that would come next. “The whole thing has this energy of not caring about being too perfect.” “We’re not taking ourselves too seriously and just having a good time this time around,” Remington continues. “In a band, there’s always so much pressure around the decisions you make but this record was all about making music in a room together. All we cared about was being happy in that moment,” he adds, with Death Or Glory driven by a sense of euphoria. “Most of our albums are dark and depressing, but this one is all about having fun.” Death Or Glory may see Palaye Royale fully embrace the giddy recklessness of their celebrated live show, but there’s a lot of heart behind the album as well. As the band were recording the last song, they got the news that their mom Stephanie Rachel had been diagnosed with stage four cancer. She passed away nine months later. “This album is coming out at the perfect time,” says Sebastian. “Instead of living in this dark, depressing headspace after losing someone so important, so loved by all of us, Death Or Glory is forcing us to chase fun and excitement.” It’s about connection, unity and strength in numbers, which is something the world could do with more of. “This record means so much more to us now, because life is short. You need to enjoy every single moment while you can and surround yourself with people you care about,” Sebastian continues. “We’re really trying to be the best band we can be, so we can make our mom proud. As silly as it might sound, I just want people to have fun with this record.”Palaye Royale consists of brothers Remington Leith (vocals), Sebastian Danzig (guitar), and Emerson Barrett (drums). The creation of "Death or Glory" was a cathartic return to their roots, combining their deep musical knowledge with an innovative approach. The album's tracks were developed during a period of introspection, drawing from their extensive experience and growth as artists. Each song on the album is meticulously crafted, showcasing the band's profound connection to their music and their fans, lovingly dubbed the Soldiers of the Royal Council. “When we first started out, the goal was Wembley arena. Now that show has been announced, it’s about planning the way forward from there,” says Sebastian. The mantra of Palaye Royale remains “always be ambitious, always be driven and always stay true to yourself,” he continues. “And I’m not worried if that pisses people off anymore.”.

Joachim Liebens (29) is met The Haunted Youth in korte tijd naar de top van de Belgische indie geschoten. Zijn songs, vaak over de struggle of life maar verpakt in heerlijk dromerige gitaren en synths, zijn voor hem therapie, en raken ook bij toehoorders een gevoelige snaar, tot in de VS. Elke single is een schot in de roos en debuutplaat Dawn Of The Freak wordt door pers en publiek innig aan de borst gedrukt. Voeg daarbij hun stomende livereputatie en The Haunted Youth is vertrokken voor jaren.

There is no such thing as a Montell Fish release without lore. Across albums, EPs, and side projects, the 27-year-old singer-songwriter delves into the depths of his emotions and intellect. With each release, he constructs a layered tower of references and metaphors that shake and sway with the anxieties of a gifted young person striving to reconcile the contradictions of the world: in love, in religion, in art, and in faith. It is the kind of music that inspires intense feelings and dedicated fandom. Charlotte, his newly released album, is a raw collection of songs that explore the highs and lows of love, ambition, and self-actualization. “I know I’m a star,” Fish sings at one point, and for perhaps the first time in his career, it feels like he means it—and has unlocked a new level of achievement because of it. While writing the record, the continuation of the trilogy that began with Jamie (2022), Fish read about psychology, memory, and childhood; the ideas of Freud and Jung provided thoughtful stimulation as he crafted songs that explore growth and attachment—romantic and otherwise. The album follows the EP Intercession Before Charlotte, released under his DJ Gummy Bear moniker. (For a greater understanding of Gummy and that project’s ideas about a persecuted musician, Fish wrote a short but dense piece of online fiction. The lore runs deep.) Intercession featured more uptempo, beat-heavy songs, and Charlotte begins in that fashion too. The lights go down, a fuzzed-up guitar riff tears the night in two, the bass drops in, and then the drums—steady and urgent as a heartbeat. Recorded between Paris and New York, Charlotte began life in the home of acclaimed fashion designer Matthew Williams (they became friends after Williams shared Fish’s music on Instagram, sparking a DM conversation). The first single, “Who Did You Touch Last Night?”, is meant to evoke the throbbing energy of a Parisian nightclub. Fish’s falsetto has never sounded stronger than it does here, as he embodies jealousy and vulnerability, repeating the aching question posed in the title. “Why did you think I won’t figure out?” he sings on the chorus, his voice caught somewhere between pained resignation and desperation. Befitting a project as concerned with vulnerability as it is with aspiration, Fish opened up his creative process to a producer for the first time on Charlotte: Jacob Portrait, of the melancholic funk act Unknown Mortal Orchestra, stepped into Fish’s world to lend a hand. It is a natural pairing; both are devotees of Prince, in particular, the late artist’s genius for creating emotional complexity and tension with uptempo songs that reveal themselves to be sorrowful with repeated listens. “Is It a Crime” is one of the most Prince-flavored moments on the album, a gorgeous, guitar-driven song about lingering feelings. “Is it a crime, crime—you’re on my mind?” Fish sings against a jagged riff, after the drums drop out. It is heavy and evocative; the moments of quiet on the track—the sense of space between sounds—make it feel existential in its questioning of right and wrong. With the wages of sin and temptation on its mind, “It’s Gonna Cost You” is another standout moment, a feverish funk examination of the toll ambition takes. It features some of Fish’s most impressive falsetto shouting, as he quips that he will be the “greatest that you’ve ever seen.” It is profane and sacred, ending with a contemplative moment of organ playing. As ever, Fish loves thinking about life’s big questions: How does childhood shape a person? What does it mean to have a gift the world wants access to? Raised in a strictly religious household and now out in the world on his own making his art, Fish possesses a boundaryless curiosity about ways of living and creating. Charlotte is his most fully realized project yet, the sound of a generational talent stepping into his power.

International pop star. Writer of songs. Fearer of bugs. Girlboss of the Very Sexy CMAT Band. Once, twice, three times a loser at 2024’s BRITs, Mercury Music Prize and Ivors. Soon to release a new album, EURO-COUNTRY, which will rectify these errors.

If all art is magic, it’s most resonant when it merges into both the timeless forms and temporary frailties of existence. With In Waves, Jamie xx has conjured a spellbinding portal. He replicates the emotional crescendos and thrilling volatility of an almost mystical night out– one where you return home in the cigarette ash dawn, the specifics of the last eight hours already blurring, but aware that these feelings will remain a crystalline memory.In Waves is a melancholy paradise of bliss, heartbreak, and introspection. The story of a journey where you merge into the divine pulse of shadows, light, and dancefloor rhythms. A strobelite epiphany about the illimitable possibilities and spiritual capacities of humanity. Nine years after his debut solo masterpiece, In Colour, the London producer has not only eclipsed the heights of its predecessor, he’s somehow made all supernatural adjectives and analogies seem understated.

Anno 2025 timmert Milo solo aan de weg met zijn reeks aan virale singles onder zijn alias Milolaathetlukken. De ras-Amsterdamse rapper komt stijlvol met verhalen over designerkleding, geld en wheelies trekken op de Prinsengracht. Met zijn artiestennaam legt hij de lat hoog, maar niet zonder reden. Hij laat het lukken. Dit stijlicoon brengt de sound van 2027 al in 2025.

With 2B worldwide streams, 5B short-form video streams, and close to 300M video streams thus far, Isabel LaRosa is quickly ascending to the upper echelons of modern pop. Named one of Spotify’s “Pop Rising’s Artists to Watch in 2024,” the Annapolis, MD-based singer-songwriter boasts a unique ability to turn coming-of-age stories about infatuation and heartbreak into addictive hits for a new generation. LaRosa earned viral attention with a series of singles – written and produced in collaboration with her brother, Thomas – including her RIAA Platinum-certified 2022 breakthrough hit, “i’m yours,” which lit up charts around the world. The following year saw the release of LaRosa’s debut EP, You Fear the God That Loves You. Chosen as one of only six artists for TikTok’s inaugural Elevate program and featured at TikTok in the Mix, a sold-out concert event streamed live on TikTok to more than 10M viewers worldwide, LaRosa – who also is deeply involved in the direction and creation of her theatrical, dark-pop visual approach – continued her ascent in 2024 with the sold- out God’s Watching tour and the bilingual hit single, “favorite,” which earned over 80K creations and over 400M views from user-generated content across social media platforms prior to its official release. Hailed by Ones To Watch as “a superstar befit for the digital age,” LaRosa has received critical applause to match her increasing popular success, including such outlets as Billboard, LADYGUNN, EARMILK, NME,and more.

When ‘Cardboard Box’ by Flo dropped in March of 2022 and set the internet alight, it felt like nobody saw it coming. But of course, that wasn’t the case. The infectiously R&B-tinged ‘dump him sis’ lullaby that felt fresh but familiar was the result of almost 3 years of careful exploration and preparation. “And we still weren’t ready!” Jorja laughs. While nobody could have predicted the extent of the response that would instantly have them dubbed Britain’s hottest new girl group - Renée Downer, Stella Quaresma and Jorja Douglas had actually been the ones to push for that track as the perfect introduction for them to the world, and they were not wrong. “It felt like oh wow, everything has happened for a reason, this was the perfect moment,” explains Renée with Stella adding, “and it gave us a bit more trust and confidence when it did so well.First formed in 2019 through scouting and audition processes, it just so happened that all three girls were already familiar with each other through either theatre school or social media when they ran into each other during the early stages of this opportunity. Gravitating towards each other instantly and navigating with the effortless ease of a sisterhood now, it’s a testament to the chemistry and care fostered between them over time behind the scenes. “We definitely learned that it was a blessing in disguise, because we did want to release music a lot earlier than we had. But we were in the studio loads, working on our sound, figuring that out. Also on how we sounded together, our blend. All really important things when you’re in a girl group,” Renée says. The frenzy that followed their launch however, even they could not have anticipated. Garnering an army of fans from the get go, now known as Flo Lifers, the global appetite for them has shown no signs of stopping. With this seismic cultural current behind them, it felt as though the group sped on from strength to strength thriving in the heat of the pressure - with a string of stellar singles, two critically-acclaimed EPs and amassing tens of millions of streams in the span of just two years. Since then, the trio have sold out shows globally, played festivals from Glastonbury to Coachella, appearing on Later with… Jools Holland and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, have been nominated for MOBO’s, VMA’s and BET awards. Sampling Missy Elliot’s ‘Work It’, the group’s hit single ‘Fly Girl’ saw the group seamlessly integrate their infectious beats and harmonies with Miss Elliot’s signature sound creating a refreshing collaboration. To top it all off, they picked up top spot in the BBC Sound of 2023 poll and the Rising Star Award at the BRITs in the same year. There are a lot of common threads between the lives of the girls in their B.F years (Before Flo). Performers from the jump, Renée was an only child who instantly had her sights set on drama school with a triple threat passion of singing, acting and dancing. Stella started out in a performing arts school aged 3 in Mozambique where she lived until she was 5, and Jorja won her first talent show at 10 before making it on CBBC’s Got What It Takes in her early teens. Powerful female role models are also a theme, empowering each of them to want the world for themselves and arguably leading them to where they are today. Stella’s mum helped her pursue her dream of attending Sylvia Young Theatre School as a teen, she says, “that was hard for her because she was a single mum and I was just leaving to go to London and I’d come back on weekends.” The matriarchs in Jorja’s family gifted her her headstrong nature: “my mum used to be in the Olympics and she told me as long as you’re putting your all into it, you can do whatever you want and I’ll support you.” Renée’s mum, an eldest daughter who had her at 19, worked two jobs to save up and send her to Sylvia Young too and support her dream: “she did that all by herself. So she’s been able to get me this far and now I have that instilled in me that I can do whatever I want to do if I put my mind to it, because I’ve literally seen her do it.”Naturally, it’s that same energy that the trio embody today as artists, but beyond that, it’s also what they hope to inspire through their music. “I think that’s just how we approach life [now] as well, it’s how we were brought up. Any situation you’re in you can get out of and you have to be the strong one in it,” Stella explains. “Being a bad bitch really is at the crux of everything,” Jorja agrees. “Even when we talk about songs that are about the industry, it’s coming from a place of ‘don’t cross me, don’t test me, I’m a bad bitch’. And songs about relationships, it’s ‘how does it feel to be with a bad bitch?’” Stella adds, “Even the songs where we’re being vulnerable, the fact that we are being vulnerable, it’s like ‘wow, that’s a bad bitch!’” Renée chimes in, “There's nothing wrong with showing all sides of yourself, but you just need to do it with confidence.”Blending the rich tones and luscious melodies of R&B and soul with pitched up original samples, futuristic production, contagious hooks and candid, relatable lyricism, 2024 feels like yet another arrival for the group. First single of 2024 ‘Walk Like This’ pulls no punches as far as strut-worthy anthems go, Stella’s smoky tone on the chorus intoxicating and playful in its energy, over a reverberating bassline and sirenesque harmonies. On it, Flo proudly own their lover girl status, leaning into the sensual and the benefits of being blissfully boo’d up: “Relationships were such a key point for us, because we’re all in relationships,” Renée explains. “We all have a friendship, we have working relationships, there’s so much within that one category.” Follow up ‘Caught Up’ is the flip side of that same coin - showcasing their signature harmonies and R&B flair as they deliver a cautionary tale to a trifling lover urging him to resist the temptation of other women or face the consequences of his actions.At the core of FLO as they step into this next chapter, is embracing and subverting their power as strong young women who are just getting started. Taking the things they love and refracting them through refreshing new lenses. “We are the brains and the heart and the life and soul behind Flo,” Jorja says proudly. Stella agrees, “it comes from us!” And when it comes to what they have their sights set on, they all answer quickly at once saying some version of ‘world domination’. Already in such uncharted territory, the possibilities are endless. Jorja summarises with a flair, “invincible, untouchable, unstoppable. Get that on a pillow.” Wherever this road takes Flo next, one thing we know for certain is that they are firmly in the driver’s seat.

blackwave. is an Antwerp based hiphop duo consisting of Jean Atohoun and Willem Ardui. First joining forces in 2016 after a chance encounter at a gig in Brussels, Jean & Willem have blended their two worlds together to form a one of a kind creative collaboration. Blackwave. sets themselves apart with an open minded approach to hip hop, blending different influences like soul, junk, jazz and pop.The band first gained momentum in 2018, earning them numerous national TV appearances, multiple number one hits, an international tour, multiple awards and the release of their most impactful single to date, ‘Elusive.’ This would be the first taste of their 2019 debut album, ‘ARE WE STILL DREAMING?’.Their sophomore album, ‘no sleep in LA’, released in september 2022, received widespread acclaim in Belgium and debuted at #1 on the national charts.The album contains features with Lute (Dreamville), Abhi The Nomad & Caleborate.During this time, blackwave. steadily built a fanbase, amassing over 115 million streams on Spotify. Single 'a-okay' was included in the FIFA23 official soundtrack and had airplay in the UK (BBC1), France (France Inter) & Germany (Radio Eins). In Belgium the band has consistent airplay on some of the main radio stations (Studio Brussel, Radio 1). blackwave. established a reputation as one of the best live acts in the country. After a successful summer in 2023, where they played renowned festivals like Rock Werchter (BE), Pukkelpop (BE), Pinkpop (NL) and Electric Castle (Romania), blackwave. toured 18 shows in Europe. With the tour, including sold out shows in eight cities (a.o. London, Antwerp, Utrecht, ..), the duo sold over 11k tickets. In September 2023, EA Sports FC announced that blackwave. will again be included in their soundtrack. This time with the single ‘cracked screen’. The duo will be finishing up their new album around summer 2025, the album is planned to be released in ‘26.

Amelie Lens has taken the techno scene to another level, with her unrelenting passion for the genre, with a strong message that she always was, and always will be a raver at heart.Her childhood years were spent raised by her grandmother, who’s resilience and open-mindedness has transcended into everything that Amelie does today. From her first days on the dancefloors of clubs in Belgium at just 15 years old, Amelie started to become a regular, collecting music from all genres, finding a special connection with minimal and electro, year on year, she gained more experience and knowledge about all things music that led her to discover artists that were pivotal to her education in dance.Amelie‘s debut release in 2016 marked the beginning of her distinguished career. Since then, she has released music on many of the industry‘s leading labels and contributed to the prestigious Global Underground City mix series. Amelie is a regular headliner at major festivals such as Awakenings, Sonar, Timewarp, and Tomorrowland’s mainstage. Additionally, she performs at renowned club venues across the globe.Fast forward to 2024 and Amelie is heading her labels Lenske and EXHALE Records, running her party series EXHALE, holds down an extensive touring schedule and hosts her own radio show ‘Amelie Lens presents EXHALE’. The show now streams online and broadcasts on 34 radio stations across the globe, reaching nearly 5 million listeners with every episode.Since 2018, her Lenske label has homed releases from techno trailblazers Farrago, AIROD, Ahl Iver, Lokier and Milo Spykers whilst her second label EXHALE Records is a dedicated platform giving way to aspiring producers of the next generation. The label has become highly acclaimed for its standout VA series, which act as a springboard for newcomers as well as artists who have featured on EXHALE for solo releases.Amelie has been focused on her signature sound, emphasised by the use of her own vocals. She wants to capture audiences that may not always be there for techno but feel connected after discovering something new.The success of EXHALE’s event series has been unprecedented, with sold out shows in Europe and the United States. The brand has crowned Amelie as the first female artist to run her own residency in Ibiza, and has run for two seasons during 2022 and 2023 at DC-10. With massive shows in Antwerp and Awakenings ADE, Printworks and Drumsheds in London, as well as New York and LA in March 2023, EXHALE has a legacy to be proud of.The summer of 2024, and EXHALE is back on the island at Amnesia, where Amelie’s focus is always on community, something she has strived hard to push and support since their first event. EXHALE events act as a safe place for everyone to come and share the passion they have for music, to feel like you are part of a family, a core component of the brands identity.Following her special 4-hour essential mix for BBC, a first for the coveted mix series with such an extended set from any artist. Not forgetting the success of her Radio 1 residency and extension in 2020, Amelie continues to establish herself as one of techno’s luminaries.It’s hard not to see the extreme determination and hard work that Amelie Lens has put into every aspect of her career, and with her first solo shows with her own production scheduled for April 2024 in Paris, there is a lot to come to be excited about. Yet after all of the achievements in her career so far, there is something that remains unchanged about Amelie, and that is her infectiously positive attitude, one that has taken her this far.