Dactyl Terra are an ever evolving, sonic machine that fire off riff driven melodies, spacey synth sounds and improvisation supported by a well-oiled rhythm section. With each show different from their last, classic rock, psych rock, jazz and funk influences can all be heard throughout the overall sound of this four-piece outfit hailing from the South Wales Valleys.

Blending cathartic intensity, dense layers of guitar, fragile melancholic moments and melody, Breichiau Hir’s sole mission is to move and connect to their audience. The band jump from fierce energy to delicate passages to crashing waves of noise.

The band released their debut album, Hir Oes I’r Cof in 2021 after a string of singles with Libertino Records and their song Yn Dawel Bach was used by FA Wales in their Euro 2020 hype videos.

Over the years the band has been covered and played by Daniel P Carter and Huw Stephens for BBC Radio 1, Tom Robinson at BBC Radio 6, Adam Walton and Beth Elfyn at BBC Radio Wales, Brian Foss at KEXP, Tudur Owen and Lisa Gwilym at BBC Radio Cymru, Rock Sound, NME, Punktastic, God Is In The TV, Buzz Magazine, For The Rabbits, Circuit Seet and more.

Consisting of three members hailing from Liverpool / Wales, formed from a mutual love of krautrock, psych and Japanese noise rock, described in review as “noise terrorists,” Nudist uses momentum, intensely rhythmic drum patterns, thudding baselines and harsh dissonant guitars to create driving psychedelic atmosphere.

Somewhere between electronic music, jazz and post-rock, TUKAN unveils a percussive sound with a heady groove, taking you on a computerless electronic journey. With an analogical approach, TUKAN takes up the codes of electronic music and delivers an exhilarating sound, taking Tortoise, Badbadnotgood, Floating Points, Squarepusher and Lone as reference points. On the 18th November, they are set to release their debut album ‘Atoll’ via Magma/NEWS.

From the slow burning ‘Scuba’, the galloping ‘206’, the ecstatic trance of ‘Raymond’ to the coldness of ‘Opal’ and obscure rhymes of rapper SVDU on ‘Black Pearl’, everything here is precision and power. Seven tracks of sonic fusion recorded at La Datcha, the band’s home studio and a record that showcases the band’s singular synergy; dance floor oriented rhythms and grooves with a live, cerebral influence. TUKAN brings the instruments back to the middle of the dance floor.

Led by Nathan Van Brande and Andrea Pesare, their friendship began at the Jazz Studio in Antwerp where they started composing tracks for a rapper named SH. With ideas flowing they formed Boucan and Boukan 2.0 with Samuel Marie on keyboard, resulting in a highly memorable performance at Brussels Jazz Weekend but an unsuccessful period in the studio resulted in the early demise of the band.

However, refreshed and rejuvenated, in 2019, the trio formed TUKAN with Tommaso Patrix on drums, with the new music based on improvisation and it ignited the beginning of a new era for the four musicians. In 2021, they won the prestigious Concours Circuit in Belgium and recorded their self-titled debut EP to critical acclaim in Belgium. Numerous shows and festival appearances followed including Fifty Lab, Dour and Nuits Bota and additional shows in Germany, Luxembourg, France and recently, the Ment Festival in Ljubljana.

Although TUKAN’s studio know-how might still be in its infancy, it’s the live experience that makes the heart of the project beat. Not too much technology here. The heat is organic, the tracks evolve and the score lives. Performances that invite trance…

Born in Newport Wales, ManLikeVision who emerged onto the music scene with his versatile sound, flow and creative lyrics. Vision, who represents his lyrical talent on Hip Hop/Grime beats, started writing at a very young age, greatly influenced by his father, veteran MC, Pun Ra. Since his explosive entrance onto the scene with Best Believe in January 2021 and his Welsh Music Prize-nominated debut album Boy from the South, Vision has garnered attention up and down the country and has instantly become known for his ability to jump on pretty much any beat, any tempo, any stage, and deliver a performance that rivals that of some of the most heralded emcees in the country. He’s performed at various events including Immersed!/BBC Radio 6 Music Fringe and has supported artists like D Double E, Young T and Bugsey and Lady Leshurr . He has received numerous radio plays, has been featured in various blogs and has received over 8,730 Youtube views.

In October ’22 he was nominated for best lyricist at Youth Music Awards and is currently an apprentice for Sound Progression, mentoring young people and developing their talents and music production skills.

Music as a safe space—to reveal, share and affirm oneself. The Montrealer with a Brazilian background, Fernie, released their debut album Aurora in the fall of 2021—a blend of vulnerable words, emancipated soul and melodious R&B, vibrant with inclusion and subtle nuances of 90’s melancholy. A 3-year process, through which the queer artist first sought to be perceived as a whole person—for an album led by an agile voice, which narrates and links the past, the present and the future. 

After touring the previous project in many festivals (Osheaga, Montreal Jazz Festival, M for Montreal, Pop Montreal, Bars en Bars in Paris and Rennes), Fernie has been working with the likes of Patrick Watson on their follow up project called “Hopeless Dreams”, set to be released in the middle of 2023.

Hanorah is multidisciplinary artist based out of a small studio filled with cats, canvases, and glittered tape recorders in Montréal’s west end. With years of touring under her belt (including several television appearances and supporting the likes of Mavis Staples and Lee Fields), she recently took time to plunge back into song writing and forge a new musical direction. What emerged was a collection of songs highlighting the overlap between maturity and the enduring charm of playfulness. Music that journeys through emotions of the past and present, as she blurs the lines between the recurring cycles of time, choice, and circumstance. In short, her first full length album ‘Perennial’. A work packed with RnB grooves and soulful ballads as it digs deeper into Hanorah’s musical roots to explore the lush tones and textures of her voice.

From her first album Première apparition, Laurence-Anne has established herself on the alternative music scene by reaching the long list of the prestigious Polaris Prize and the top of the list of Francophone albums of the year at CISM. The new darling of critics and college radios performed at all of Quebec’s big festivals and even tested the waters in France (MaMA, Avec le Temps, Aurores Montréal) before returning home to record Accident, an EP with a touch of punk, indie-pop and tropical vibes. This astonishing, fertile sound exploration has led her to her second full-length album Musivision, released on April 23rd via Bonsound. Back on the road in Quebec and France, she also went to the US where she played at SXSW before going on tour as the first act of the Korean band Se So Neon (Brooklyn, Washington, Boston, New-York, etc). Her next album, to be released under Bonsound, is expected in the fall of 2023 and will highlight the nocturnal and hushed sweetness of her musical universe.

Ivytide is an indie pop band from Montreal, Canada. founding members, Nathan Gagné (vocals, guitar), Jamie Snytte (guitar) and Kyle Ruggiero (bass) met at a recording studio, where they started to develop a chemistry in their songwriting. A mutual love for lo-fi indie music led to the production of bedroom pop songs with intricate, but catchy melodies, which float on top of well thought-out instrumentation.

New Wave Sound.Ent are two versatile artists from Cardiff, coming with charisma and a unique style ready to set the stage.

Elina Lee is a 25 year old Cardiff based up-and-coming singer-songwriter Citing Majid and Snoh Aalegra among her musical influences, Elina Lee embodies similar modern production trends, as she blends elements of lo-fi, R&B and mainstream pop undertones into her own sound.

With Thai roots growing up in Sweden, Elina Lee first found her passion of making music while riding the Stockholm metro to school on the daily. Growing up, she would often use this downtime to scribble lyrical poetry lines in her notebook. Vastly inspired by the beautiful underground art of Stockholm’s subway stations, this hobby would soon develop into a talent in songwriting and music.

In 2020 she opened Cardiff’s own Immersed Festival, with headliners such as Richard Ashcroft, Tom Grennan and Bad Sounds. She has also appeared on New Horizons CDFevent in Buffalo Bar. Elina Lee will release her debut-single ’Deja Vu’ on the 4th of March 2022 on all streaming platforms which she wrote together with songwriter Zawadi McPhoy Odenyo.

Pop, R&B, and Hip Hop infused singer-songwriter. Aisha Kigs’s sound oozes ‘cool, sexy, fun’ through her vocal arrangements and visuals.

She introduced us to her vibrant tongue in cheek lyricism and rap abilities through her own take of Ms Dynamite’s classic ‘Dynamitee’ on SoundCloud in late 2020. Aisha has co-wrote and featured in collaborations including rappers ‘Red Wine Headaches’ with Noah Bouchard, and Ogun with ‘The Voice’ and Eadyth’s Harddwch Du EP with ‘Baby Girl’.

Combined with her ability to write a killer hook, Aisha Kigs is a risk taker. Crossing-over Pop sounds with R&B and Hip Hop. She dares to experiment and go beyond the traditional boundaries of Pop and R&B; bringing her Welsh-Tanzanian heritage to the forefront unapologetically and unfiltered.

Aisha Kigs debuted in BBC’s ‘New Voices from Wales’ (The Honey Sessions Mixtape) and was an awardee of BBC Horizon’s Launchpad Programme 2022. Aisha Kigs’s debut single ‘DIME A DOZEN’ which was featured in S4C’s series/Cyfres 4 of Curadur.

God Fearing… Seen by many as the catalyst for the Welsh valley movement. The Risca born, lyrical fanatic could be the one to truly take Welsh music to the next level. Already at 20, he has built up quite the musical CV and the dedication to his art form speaks for itself. Combining his childhood influences of US + UK styles, Zero provides an exciting fuse of sounds suggesting, the only way is up for the ‘Valley Poet’.

SHLUG are an industrial three piece meat grinder from Cardiff, lugging noise between the teeth of gears.

LohArano are a power trio coming to us from Madagascar, with a fusion of rock and malagasy ternary rhythms that results in a new sound of metal. It’s a parable of malagasy’s past, present and future identity, told through their bubbling rock fusion, combining electric guitars and mystical sounds.

Recognised as one of the most electrifying new acts to emerge from the UK in the past year, Baba Ali is the combined force of American performer and musician Baba Doherty and British guitarist Nik Balchin. Following the release of their debut Memory Device in 2021 and 18 months of touring, Baba Ali return with one foot firmly placed on the dance floor, and the other in a state of frenzy. The bold and fiery lead single Burn Me Out from the upcoming sophomore album Laugh Like A Bomb, serves as a blueprint for what the duo call their ‘electro punk disco’ sound and was premiered by Lauren Laverne on BBC 6 Music. Having previously collaborated with Al Doyle (LCD Soundsystem / Hot Chip) on their debut album, this time the duo absconded to Doyle’s studio in his own touring absence and took to production duties themselves. Laugh Like A Bomb was recorded in just three weeks before being mixed by Sheffield producer Ross Orton (Working Men’s Club / M.I.A. / Yard Act). Onstage, Baba Ali is a captivating and seductive presence, transmitting a wall of sound that fills the room with an infectious raw energy and groove that makes standing still impossible.

As GOD ALONE prepares to release their first album under the Prosthetic Records banner, listeners should prepare to empty their minds. ETC is a study of nothingness – brought to life by way of extremely danceable, gloriously abstract musicianship. The five musicians behind GOD ALONE are quite literally students of their craft; ETC – their second full length album – was recorded at MTU Cork School of Music which they all attend. ETC was produced by the band and Christopher Hockley, and mastered by Jaime Gomez Arellano (Witch Fever, GGGOLDDD, Ghost).

The origins of the band lie in a heavier, post-metal sound, but the intervening years and an influx of new and stimulating influences has seen them broaden their palette, expand their horizons and hone a distinctive sound. Whilst embracing all that the Irish music scene has to offer, GOD ALONE are constantly pushing to make their way out of Ireland and further afield. Cutting their teeth in an eclectic and enthusiastic local scene helped them to refine their live chops, giving their performance increased weight and attention as they progressed.

Now when they write, the live iteration of their music is always at the forefront of their minds. The genre-bending approach traverses through mathrock, dance, avant-garde, post-punk and more on its way to its final destination. Citing the Talking Heads as a big influence, GOD ALONE embrace absurdism at every turn – in particular the absurdity of nothingness; the art of existing without meaning or context. Abstract lyrics are influenced by French dadaist poets as they seek to make heavy ideas into fun, danceable vignettes.

Minimalist album art courtesy of Ian McInerney highlights the repetition of things that have no clear beginning or end – the endless loop of everything and nothing all at once.

Sage Todz is a Rap and R&B inspired artist from North Wales.

“It’s as close to real life as you can get without feeling really depressed about it,” Sabrina (originating from Toronto) offers by way of summarising Shelf Lives – the London-based electro-punk outfit she fronts alongside guitarist/producer Jonny. Much like this point in time, the duo’s music feels chaotic, tense, and wired. Pairing hardcore punk’s brief blasts of energy with electroclash’s minimal and sleazy sonics, they raise themes of societal collapse and hyper-consumerism with a warped smile. The result taps into headspace that’s as rotten as it is dopamine-flooded, with pent-up frustration and pop hooks tossed together in a way that makes, in their own words, “the fucked up seem fun.”

Though Shelf Lives has only been a band since 2021, they’ve already played acclaimed sets at Glastonbury, supported Skunk Anansie on a full EU/UK tour, were ‘ones to watch in 2022’ and joined fellow confrontational noise-makers Bob Vylan and HO99O9 on the cover of Gigwise. In April 2022 they released their first mini-album Yes, offence – a danceable outburst of dissonant guitar riffs, jackhammer beats and black comedic lyrics they’ve described as “a reflection of a broken society verging on the edge of cultureless, all while wearing a party hat.” Societal extremes – whether it’s wealth, poverty, pop culture or patriotism – are captured not through heart on sleeve lyrics, but in the extremes of their sound. Kicking the whole thing off, Sabrina announces – in the style of a Real Housewife by way of Veronica Sawyer – “If
I give you a Chanel necklace and you choke on it, that’s your problem not mine.”

On the face of it, Shelf Lives make catchy, energetic pop songs that bring the abrasiveness and physicality of punk back to a small, cramped house party setting. It’s music so rowdy you can practically feel the sweat on the ceiling and the sound of crushed cans under your feet. “I think what you’re gonna get from us will be different every time, but it won’t sound like a different band,” says Johnny. “As long as it’s authentic and fun,” Sabrina adds, “Cool – we’re there.”