Glastonbury has its fair share of huge bands playing, but everyone knows festivals aren’t just about the established names. They’re also about finding your new faves. If you pay any attention to what we write at all, you’ll be more than aware who we’d be recommending – but just in case you need some help keeping up at the back there, here’s a bunch a new talent playing Worthy Farm this weekend.
DECLAN MCKENNA
Our Dec is a superstar in waiting – so much, so obvious. But Glastonbury is a place where superstars so often reveal themselves to the world. With a rabid fanbase and an energy almost unique amongst his peers, this weekend could be the time everything steps up a gear for one of the most engaged and engaging voices in new music right now.
BLACK HONEY
Glastonbury may have it’s own cinema, but that doesn’t mean anything else on worth farm will be half as cinematic as Black Honey this weekend. With bangers on an epic scale, Izzy and co are a band ready to blast through to the masses. A blockbuster if ever there was one.
DUA LIPA
Dua Lipa is a genuine, grade A pop star. With her debut album out, she’s a woman on a mission. Expect to see her take a starring role at this year’s festival.
THE AMAZONS
You can’t beat a bit of good old fashioned indie rock ‘n’ roll, and that’s what The Amazons do better than most. On loan from their hometown of Reading, expect leather jackets and huge choruses aplenty as they have Worthy Farm eating out of their hands.
LOYLE CARNER
Loyle Carner could stand out in any field, never mind one on an actual farm. An important voice with the sort of attitude you wish every artist possessed, he’s exactly what Glastonbury should be about.
INHEAVEN
As they gear up for the release of their debut album this September, INHEAVEN are set to become indie megastars. With a back pocket full of bangers and the ability to transport any tent to their sticky floored, snakebite and black filled utopia, they’ll have the singalongs going before tea time.
SUNDARA KARMA
Indie Gods and former cover stars Sundara Karma do anthemic. They do huge. They’re almost purpose built for festivals. Glastonbury will hold no fears for a band who have already conquered Reading’s Main Stage – expect a victory lap that puts on smiles for miles.
SIGRID
You get lots of artists who feel like they’re probably pop stars in waiting, but only once in a while do you get one who genuinely feels like the real deal. That’s Sigrid. Not only is her material pitch perfect, fresh as fuck and absolutely bloody essential, but anyone who’s seen her live will affirm, she’s flawless. While others may be polish and bluster, Sigrid is the real deal.
PUMAROSA
Glastonbury feels like it may well be Pumarosa’s festival. Smart and superb, their debut album ‘The Witch’ is a 5 star blinder. Radiohead have already made Worthy Farm their own, sure, but there’s a small slice somewhere for this lot to take ownership of for years to come.
BLAENAVON
Blaenavon’s rise continues apace, and festival season should see it do anything but slow up. With an album full of anthems like ‘That’s Your Lot’, the potential is there for everyone to see. Plus, that cover of ‘High & Dry’ they did on Radio 1 the other day was something else entirely. You never know. They might give it another bash.
THE BIG MOON
The Big Moon are the perfect festival band. Equal part bangers and bonkers energy, they’re built to get the party started. It won’t just be Glastonbury that’s happy to have them this summer.
MAGIC GANG
They might not be much cop at naming EPs (Currently having released ‘The Magic Gang EP’, ‘The Second EP From…’ and ‘EP Three’), but the Magic Gang are good at something far more important, making classic indie bangers. You should definitely go and see them. But you already knew that, right?
RAT BOY
Rat Boy finally have a debut album on the way. Whether you think of them as a band, or the alter-ego of their madcap frontman Jordan Cardy, they’re a gang who have it in them to start a riot or two. If Glastonbury is a place for hedonistic excess, this lot will be more than up for the challenge.