The best emerging bands at Great Escape Festival

The Great Escape has grown from humble beginnings to become Europe’s largest new music festival as it enters its tenth year. Set in the seaside paradise of Brighton, the core event is spread across three days and 35 varied locations – from clubs, bars and hotels to theatres and churches – showcasing hundreds of acts; each venue brimming with as much music as you can stuff in your greedy ears.

This year Huck will be once again be hosting a stage at The Komedia Studio Bar on the evening of Saturday May 16, with a global line-up of emerging acts.

Passpied open proceedings with their thrilling sugar rush of Japanese pop rock (8:00pm – 8:30pm). Canadian duo Vogue Dots then take to the stage for a set chock full of layered ambient intensity and dense electronic throbs (8.45pm – 9.15pm)

South African quintet Al Bairre change up the pace, bridging a gap somewhere between the sunny indie pop melodies of The Vivian Girls, the symphonic arrangements of Arcade Fire and the rhythms of their home continent (9:30pm – 10:00pm). Belfast natives Loris close out the night with their combination of crunching bass lines, taught percussion, infectious electropop and the captivating vocals of frontwoman Frances Mitchell (10:15pm – 11:00pm).

But Huck’s stage can only showcase a handful of the talent on offer at this year’s festival. So with that in mind here are ten more acts for you to watch out for on your trip to the south coast’s salubrious environs.

Tei Shi

A Columbian born Brooklynite, Tei Shi deals in the kind of swooning modern R&B to electrify your nerves. It’s a sound close in relation to the dreamlike quality of FKA Twigs, but with broader sonic scope; dulcet hints of minimalist pop combining to rapturous effect.
Komedia 14th May – 8:30pm – 9:00pm

Black Honey

Enigmatic Brighton-based quartet, Black Honey have emerged from self-imposed shadows with a sound that blends surf-rock melodies and shoegaze with sparks of grunge. Hang all this around vocalist Issy Bee Phillips sultry inflections and you get one of the UK’s most exhilarating new acts.
Green Door Store 14th May – 9:15pm – 9:45pm

LA Priest

Ex-Late Of The Pier alumnus Sam Dust (aka Sam Eastgate) has returned from the wilderness with another new name and a new sound. It’s been five years since we mourned the demise of his old band, but the intervening years have seen Dust busy honing a solo sound. The result is a mix of astral funk and sexed-up future disco and promises to be a live treat.
The Haunt 14th May – 10:00pm – 10:30pm 

Clarence Clarity

Who is Clarence Clarity? It’s a good question… and one that we can’t easily answer. What we can say is that if his amalgam of glitched-up funk, hypnotic rhythms and unconventional melodies are half as good as his album (or his crazed videos) – then he’s going to be unmissable live.
Sticky Mikes Frog Bar 14th May – 11:45pm – 12:15am

Aurora

Katy Perry has already hyped this nineteen-year-old Norweigan as one of her favourite new artists. But don’t let that put you off. Aurora Aksnes music brings to mind the grandiloquent pop of fellow Northern European Lykke Li, while her vocals hold a stunning crystalline quality unlike much else you’ll hear at The Great Escape this year.
Coalition 15th May – 8:15pm – 8:45pm

Rival Consoles 

Ryan Lee West (aka Rival Consoles) creates heightened atmospheric collages of sound, coupling the urgency of Jon Hopkins and the glitch pop nous of Gold Panda. While hinting at elements of modern classical composition that in his quieter moments bring to mind Nico Muhly and even Steve Reich. On wax, the results are ethereal but live he promises to be an otherworldly delight.
St George’s Church 15th – 8:30pm – 9:00pm

Jack Garrett

Producer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Jack Garrett seems like a triple threat; the power of his minimalist beatwork and soulful falsetto seeing him discussed in the same breath as James Blake and Pharrell. He’s playing a couple of times over the weekend, so you’ve no excuse not to catch him because it won’t be long before you hear his name everywhere.
Patterns – Downstairs 15th – 2015 9:45pm – 10:15pm

Blanck Mass 

As one part the Fuck Buttons, Benjamin John Power has already redefined modern electronica with three albums of face-melting beats. But as a solo artist he’s engaged in subtle shades of ambiance. Up until now that is. Dumb Flesh, his latest release, marries the two sides of his sound into a perfect storm, promising a visceral intensity in the hallowed confines of St George’s Church.
St George’s Church 15th May – 10:30pm – 11:00pm

Spector

It’s not the first time round the block for Spector, but after a debut that failed to deliver on the promise of their talent they’ve had the musical equivalent of a hard reboot. This time ditching hype in favour of smart, anthemic indie, but make sure you see them now, because they won’t be playing intimate venues like this for much longer.
The Arch 16th May – 9:45pm – 10:30pm

Single Mothers

Hailing from Ontario, Single Mothers channel intelligent lyricism and punk intensity into a ferocious throat-punch of sound. And it’s backed up by a savage live reputation that’ll bring your weekend to a breathless conclusion.
The Hub 16th May – 10:30pm – 11:00pm

Check out the full lineup for Brighton’s tenth Great Escape Festival, May 14-16.

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