Those Scandies know for sure how to spawn a great singer. The Norwegian Sigrid has quickly become a pop sensation. The 20-year-old winner of the BBC & # 39; s Sound of 2018 gathers an ever-expanding fanbase with its agile ability to blend the melancholy, melancholy of Lorde with the power and energy of the Danish fireworks MØ. Like her fellow sisters, she is a lover of the sad-banger, she excels in emotional confessionals about pulsating beats that can transform the dance floor into a refuge for the vulnerable and loveless.
Her delicate, ethereal voice floats over dramatic hook-soaked songs such as the irresistible earworm Strangers and the icy electropop of her mission statement, Do not Kill My Vibe . The refined nature of her songwriting, combined with her strong determination not to be dismissed as the taste of the month, will undoubtedly produce a powerful performance. The audience of Electric Picnic is up for her, ready to be proclaimed.
Dua Lipa
Who does not want to witness thousands of girls in a field shouting the words New Rules as a frightening chorus of stupid aunts? New rules was not only the number that was defined in 2017, it is now also a moral guide for everyone who has had to deal with a dreaded ex. They are Martin Luther's 95 theses but about useless boys and distilled in a three-minute pop song. Dua does not mess. There is no time to lose now that her career changes supernova. After a few false starts (which showed her different tracks again until they finally got stuck) she is a symbol of perseverance in the face of apathy. A smart, sultry star with an arsenal of sensational pop hits, her success is the old-fashioned kind with every second song a single, making her debut album sound like a collection of the greatest hits. She is a real world beater and her performance will certainly be an unforgettable EP moment.
N.E.R.D
Pharrell Williams is one of the architects of modern pop music. His fingerprints are the biggest hits of his work with everyone from Daft Punk to Justin Timberlake, he combines a magpie aesthetic with an inborn inventiveness – the fusion of the past of soul and disco with a freewheeling futurism full of skittering beats and fleshy hip-hop licks.
His passion project NERD is perhaps best known for their nineties filthy dance floor fillers such as Lapdance and She Wants to Move but last year's album No One Ever Really Dies was a less rectilinear, more discordant , piece of work. In collaboration with MIA, Andre 3000 and Rihanna it was a rough, disorienting mix of samples and styles that changed the tempo every few seconds, as if they were squashing in more of the melodies that rammed around the huge galaxy in William's head . How this uncomfortable condition will be played live in a festival environment, will be intriguing, but no doubt Pharrell will have a few tricks ahead, with employee Kendrick Lamar also on the EP-law there can be a place for him on stage.
Jennifer Gannon
Sevdaliza
As far as genres are concerned, trip-hop is one of the most hypnotic. While trip-hop legends Massive Attack will fill one of the headline slots on the main stage with a high-end show that includes three decades of their career, the lesser known but up-to-coming trip-hop artist and producer Sevdaliza will be an arthouse- show that freezes the senses and celebrates femininity. Sevendiza, born in Tehran, Iran and raised in the Netherlands, begs her voice, listens to traditional Iranian songs, about icy beats that bump and squeeze. By using subtle movements on the stage – and calling occasional ripped male dancers to help – her live set will be nothing but enchanting. Her debut album ISON in which the incredible single Human appears, was released last year and if you want to get lost in a trance and love Portishead, Sevdaliza's set is the place to be.
Jorja Smith
With her debut album Lost & Found released in June, covering topics such as racism, sexism, capitalism, greed, young love, toxic masculinity and firearm crime in the United Kingdom, Jorja Smith is far beyond her years and her time. At the age of 21 the R & B singer worked with Drake, Stormzy and Kali Uchis and earlier this year she won the Brit Critics & Choice Award, with which she defeated Mabel and Stefflon Don.
Interactions of spoken word in Lost & Found the combination of social activism and R & B music from Smith is not far from Dan Le Sac and Scroobius Pip, but with its smooth voice through beautiful songs as Goodbye she proves that she herself is to be an incredibly capable and dynamic songwriter. Smith is a thinking and whip-smart man who is booming and can now be captured before every show is sold out.
Garbage
Without Garbage's Scottish frontwoman Shirley Manson, the 90s would have been a much duller place. While Oasis and Blur were busy throwing plays together, with a curled lip and a non-oppressed look, Manson broke balls with songs that challenged social norms with her American band members Duke Erikson, Steve Marker and Butch Vig, who Nirvana & # 39; s produced nevermind . While celebrating 20 years of their second album Version 2.0, their EP set of mammoth songs such as celebrates Paranoid Special and When I Grow Up while ( hopefully) Stupid Girl Queer and Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go) take a look. Although it may be easy to pin down Garbage as a nostalgic act, the distorted nature of their music feels more relevant today than it did in 1998, unifying all the outcasts and madmen who felt they could not go anywhere to go back. .
Louise Bruton
Nina Kraviz [19659002] Here is a fascinating piece of technical trivia: the Siberian DJ, producer and record label boss Nina Kraviz holds a PhD in dentistry. She repaired the teeth in a Moscow war hospital during the day, while she cut her teeth through the night like a DJ. Kraviz has built a reputation as a very energetic DJ who puts on a real show, and compares DJs that are too dependent on software as a musty experience that is "pre-cooked, taken out of the fridge and burned in a microwave". After several low-key gigs in the Twisted Pepper over the years, Kraviz earns these larger Irish festival bills because her selections and Triplabel are excellent. "The mix album of the past year Fabric Live is a great place to start as an introduction to its mix of advanced but accessible techno, one of the first of a long awaited wave of female techno DJs, Nina Kraviz, and the rising Hamburg superstar Helena Hauff, kicking through the doors of the boys' club.
Massive Attack
In their first half-decade, Massive Attack headed the dance stage at Feile & # 39; 95 and the old Point Depot, neither of which was particularly memorable. On occasions, there was something deep when the Bristol collective toured Mezzanine in 1998 and broke the roof of the Olympia three nights in a row. They have done some of their best work in recent years, and the Ritual Spirit EP from 2016 is a late career high.
God only knows when they will finally deliver a new album, but if they are even half as good as they were at Longitude in 2014, when their powerful visual show went all the way from Niall Harbison to the war in Gaza, then we a hell tonight. Massive Attack are the festival veterans to go to when the Emperor's new clothes are not suitable for their purpose.
Benjamin Clementine
London-based Benjamin Clementine became homeless when he moved to Paris. In 2015 he won the Mercury Music Prize for his debut album, At Least for Now. Some might say that he is still a victim of the curse of Mercury, because the brilliant [I989011] I Tell A Fly last year did not receive a fraction of the attention, but Clementine remains a greater attraction on the continent and the States then are the land of birth.
His amazing research into the consequences of war and bullying, Phantom or Aleppovile was one of the best songs of 2016. Blessed with one of the most unique and original voices in contemporary music, the former Gorillaz employee deserves part of your valuable festival time and attention.
Eamon Sweeney
Field Music
Maybe they are so far in the bill that you run the risk of forgetting to play them all the way – but whatever you do, do not miss Field Music. Under the leadership of the Brothers Brewis, Peter and David, the Sunderland band has consistently given continuity since 2005 in the form of a number of remarkable albums. We do not joke when we say that they are one of the most criminally underrated bands on the planet, and their sense of melody and song is unmatched by most; Indeed, even Prince has ever made them big on Twitter, which tells you everything you need to know. Their recently released seventh album Open Here is another beautiful display of a band that is still in sharp form – and they are also fantastic live. If you like indie / art-rock with funk-directed twists, glorious harmonies and an irresistible pop sensitivity as heard on songs like Them That Do Nothing and The Noisy Days Are Over you know what you has to do.
St. Vincent
Look, you do not need us to tell you what a talent St. Vincent is. You are undoubtedly already aware of the shimmering resume of Annie Clark so far, from her remarkable solo work to her collaboration with David Byrne (including an unforgettable performance of their album Love This Giant on Electric Picnic in 2013 ) to her various unconventional collaborations over the past decade or so.
Just do not make the mistake of thinking & # 39; I've seen her before, so I will not bother me this time & # 39; at this year's festival. Every performance in St. Vincent is a different experience and with a fantastic fifth album Masseducation under her belt – her self-described most personal album to date – you stand for an exciting set with a few hits in the mix, as recent setlists are something to be addressed. If it is nothing else, she is worth seeing just to witness her awesome ability on the guitar. Yes, the girl can really play.
Whenyoung
If you are looking for a new band name that needs to write your entire metaphorical school bag, try Whenyoun for the right size. The Limerick trio, now based in London, makes the indie music that is both a return to the glory days – think of many jangly guitars, sharp new wave riffs, jumpy bass lines and absolutely murderous refrains – and thoroughly modern in its approach. . 19659008] Manufactured by the magnetic Aoife Power, they are a band that thinks their visual aesthetics without compromising on the music, as evidenced by the brilliant glut of EP's that have been released so far (so to speak silence a beautifully uplifting version of The Cranberries & # 39; & # 39; Dreams & # 39; that they occasionally fall into their set list). One of the brightest Irish prospects to appear in years, as their excellent new single Heaven on Earth & # 39; you do not sell, nothing will.
Lauren Murphy
Kendrick Lamar
King Kendrick mercifully us with his royal presence only six months after his last state visit. That performance, in the 3Arena, Dublin, is described in just about every hyperbolic synonym that you can imagine. Now Lamar returns to an Irish festival stage two years after a performance on Longitude. But there is no sense of slowness in his increasingly regular visits.
Lamar not only makes some of the most vital, politically assertive, straight-paced music in the world right now – he is one of the most phenomenal live acts on this rock of ours. And with his recent work on the soundtrack of Black Panther as back-up of the still-spirited .DAMN of last year and his impressive stack of classics from the past, there is a lot for Kung Fu Kenny to get through in his headline set .
Inner Circle
Legacy artists do best at festivals. Take Chic: It was Electric Picnic that tempted the band to make their Irish debut in 2009, creating the love affair of this 21st century that is still burning. The most seductive hit of nostalgia this year comes in the form of Jamaican legends Inner Circle, or The Bad Boys of Reggae. Trust me, there are young bands who are playing EP this year selling body parts to write two songs as good as Bad Boys – which you know for sure of the movie of the same name or that TV show Cops – and that ultra-catchy , weapons -in-the-air classic Sweat (A La La La La Long) . Inner Circle also tends to throw reggae classics like Three Little Birds in their sets, which should go well, especially when the sun appears on Stradbally.
Erica Cody
Irish R & B music can reasonably be described as flourishing at the moment and one of the most powerful rising stars is Erica Cody. Still in her early years & # 39; 20, the Dubliner makes fresh, industrious cuts made up of light electronic hooks and her clear vocal chords.
Songs such as good intentions and addiction draw strength from years' 90 soul, British garage and modern indie R & B in equal measure. Cody's first EP Leoness comes out later this year (hopefully we'll be honored with a preview), so Electric Picnic offers future opportunities to tell your friends that you've seen an inland star the emergence. 19659031] Dean Van Nguyen
