Immerse yourself in our five must see acts appearing at the Brighton festival in May.
The Great Escape have announced 120 new acts who will appear at the coastal festival in 2019.
The Brighton-based festival reconvenes for three days between May 9-11th where it will showcase a plethora of new artists from around the globe at a number of venues throughout the city.
Previous Brighton institutions to play host include The Hope & Ruin, Brighton Dome, Green Door Store and the recently-closed Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar. As part of the festival’s plans to expand it has been revealed that they will present a new site on Brighton beach as part of 2019’s festivities.
The Great Escape’s main objective is to provide both a platform for budding artists and an opportunity for music fans to see the aforementioned in an intimate environment before they move onward to larger festivals and audiences. With that said the festival also runs a convention alongside its scheduled performances that features panels, topical debates, keynote speeches and networking opportunities for the artists present, much like North America’s South By Southwest.
Of the 120+ acts just announced to appear in 2019, included are Anna Calvi, Arlo Parks, Flamingods, Inner Wave, Little Simz, Still Woozy and Tess Parks to name but a few.
To help with the overwhelming task of perusing the festival’s full lineup, we’ve compiled a rundown of our five must see acts set to appear in Brighton over the weekend so far. Immerse yourself below.
5. Viagra Boys
A favourite of Fruit & Grooves Collective’s resident designer and illustrator James Cassidy in 2018, Viagra Boys are unquestionably a sight to behold. Whilst their groove heavy brand of garage rock is both compelling and alienating in its obscurity, the former reigns supreme due to the engrossing narratives of various reprobates that are curated by vocalist Sebastian Murphy in the tracks that comprise debut album Street Worms.
Listen: ‘Sports’
4. Still Woozy
The finer details displayed in Sven Gamsky’s solo project Still Woozy are what set him apart from his contemporaries in the realm of popular music. Gamsky honed his chops playing guitar in math rock group Feed Me Jack and the proficiency required to bear involvement in such a technically concentrated music scene placed the Californian multi-instrumentalist in good stead for his future endeavours. The singles released by Still Woozy to date possess the same ethereal, nonchalant feeling of other DIY artists such as Michael Seyer, Bane’s World and Yellow Days whilst retaining the compositional intricacies of Gamsky’s previous forays in to progressive guitar music. The results are beautiful and aptly demonstrated in recent single ‘Habit’.
Listen: ‘Habit’
3. Jockstrap
Guildhall students Georgia Ellery and Taylor Skye are the driving components behind Jockstrap, a London-based project that – unsurprisingly, given that the former is a key member of Black Country, New Road – defies easy categorisation. Rich orchestral string arrangements, delicate vocals and coarse electronics akin to those popularised by the PC Music boom combine for engaging and disorientating results.
Listen: ‘Charlotte’
2. Inner Wave
Inglewood, California natives Inner Wave deservedly stand at the forefront of a burgeoning lo-fi psychedelic scene that has rapidly grown from bedrooms the world over to beyond alongside the popularisation of online streaming platform Bandcamp. The quintet’s performance at The Great Escape marks their European debut and is likely to feature glimpses of material from their anticipated follow-up to Underwater Pipe Dream which has been noted to be “dancier” than its immersive, kaleidoscopic and Tyler, The Creator-endorsed predecessor.
Listen: ‘Whoa’
1. Flamingods.
With influences drawn from the furthest corners of the world and a release through esteemed reissue label Soundway Records under their belt, Flamingods operate in their own lane. The band’s upcoming album Levitation is set for release via Moshi Moshi Records – who have previously provided a platform for the likes of Friendly Fires, Bloc Party et al – which will surely cast a wealth of new eyes on the London-based band’s exotica-inspired psych rock.
Listen: ‘Marigold’
Tickets for The Great Escape are on sale now. Purchase here and view the festival’s lineup in full here.
Words by Sam Wilkinson.
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