Oh Wonder, Shura, Mura Masa and Mystery Jets are among those playing the festival in May.
Brighton’s annual multi-venue festival The Great Escape has announced the first wave of artists for its 11th edition in 2016.
The festival is always one of the best places in the UK to catch up-and-coming acts from around the world in intimate surrounds before they make it big, and this year is no exception. Heading up the list are London pop duo Oh Wonder, BBC Sound of 2015 nominee Shura and young beatsmith Mura Masa, who will play the festival’s first Spotlight Show at All Saints Church.
They will be joined by the grungy confessional songs of Banfi, Norwegian songwriter Dagny, Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition winner Declan McKenna, post-punk quartet Beach Baby, Trudy and Rukhsana Merrise.
Mystery Jets will also bring their fifth album, Curve Of The Earth, to the festival, appearing on the bill with “cabaret-tinged” Lithuanian singer Alina Orlova, the “noisy brash” sounds of Elle Exxe, bedroom pop producer Conner Youngblood and Owen Rabbit, who uses rubbish, bottles and matches as instruments.
The festival will run alongside The Great Escape Convention, an industry event with talks and panels that revolves around four strands this year: ‘Data! Transparency! Blockchain! Let’s Make Buzzwords Happen!’; ‘Who The Hell Is Still Buying CDs?’; ‘What If YouTube Actually Is The Future?’ and ‘What Has The Music Industry Ever Done For You?’.
The Great Escape takes place in Brighton and Hove on May 19-21, 2016. Three-day passes for just the gig portion of the festival are available now from The Great Escape website at an early bird price of £49.50, while delegate passes, which include access to all the convention events are available for £150.
Full list of artists confirmed so far:
Alina Orlova / Axel Flovent / Banff / Banfi / Beach Baby / Boo Seeka / Cherie And Renno / Conner Youngblood / Dagny / Declan Mckenna / Dilly Dally / Dirty Frigs / Dorsal Fins / Drones Club / Elle Exxe / Fenne Lily / Fort Lean / Foxtrott / Girli / Holy Esque / Isaac Gracie / Jack Watts / James Gruntz / Junk Son / Kloe / Lcmdf / Methyl Ethel / Mura Masa / Mystery Jets / Natur3 / Northeast Party House / Oh Wonder / Otherkin / Owen Rabbit / Pumarosa / Rukhsana Merrise / Saint Sister / Salute / Shura / Slum Sociable / Strange Bones / Tigercub / Timberwolf / Trudy / Tuff Love / Vant / Will Joseph Cook
