With just over one month before the festival, Supersonic has presented its full lineup of experimental and underground music and art. The bill includes Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Gazelle Twin, Emma Ruth Rundle, Mary Lattimore and the recently announced special commission by Grove with Toya Delazy and TaliaBle. Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe will be performing music from a recent film score, and Matana Roberts will also play a kids gig. Keep reading below for more information.
Supersonic Festival has always held Bonnie “Prince” Billy close to their hearts, and so it is a dream come true to host a set from him during the 2024 edition of the festival. He’s been at the forefront of DIY indie, folk and alt-country since the early 90s and has a consistently brilliant and prolific output. His work radiates with such emotional depth, no two performances are ever the same – and there won’t be a dry eye in the venue.
Performing their debut collaborative music for the first time are The Body & Dis Fig – the perfect synthesis of two forces. Senyawa will combine Indonesian tribal and primitive sounds with industrial music. Gazelle Twin makes a return to Supersonic in support of the new album, Black Dog – a plunge into darkness rooted in the theatrics of the séance and the phenomena of ghosts.
Following Lankum‘s incredible performance at Supersonic’s 2023 edition and a shared mutual admiration for each other, Supersonic had to invite them back in other guises; ØXN and One Leg One Eye. ØXN (bringing together Radie Peat of Lankum, John ‘Spud’ Murphy and Eleanor Myler of Percolator and Katie Kim) digs deep into the earth and retrieves evocative tales of love, loss, longing, revenge and ritual. One Leg One Eye is the project of Ian Lynch (Lankum) that explores submerged leylines of music and song, drawing on the raw aesthetics of black metal, noise and drone, while also being deeply imbued with a sense of Irish history and myth.
“Last year I had the great honour of (finally) playing and attending Supersonic Festival for the first time. From the get go I felt an amazing energy and sense of community that brought me right back to all my favourite DIY punk and hardcore festivals over the years – something I have largely been missing with the bigger kind of festivals that Lankum plays these days. Environments like that don’t happen by accident and I left the festival with a huge sense of awe and respect for the organisers in making such an event possible. In the following days I told myself that I would come back every year as a punter no matter what, so imagine how delighted I was to be asked to come back this year and perform as One Leg One Eye! I can’t wait and already know that it’s going to be a highlight of my year.” – Ian Lynch, Lankum, One Leg One Eye
The Supersonic 2024 edition explores a fascinating range of folk artists upending the traditions of the genre, including Scottish small pipes player and native Gaelic speaker Brìghde Chaimbeul who has carved a sonic space where tradition and minimalism meet. One of the leading figures in Ireland’s burgeoning folk music renaissance known for his unconventional approach, John Francis Flynn masterfully unpicks traditional songs and rearranges them with an emotional force that sometimes leaves them un-anchored. LA-based harpist and composer, and one of today’s preeminent instrumental storytellers, Mary Lattimore invites us into a musical universe rich with memories, scenes, and split-second impressions.
Exploring ecstatic sounds of different proportions is Irish based Kurdish/Syrian singer and Bouzouki player Mohammad Syfkhan, whose sound takes elements from Middle Eastern and North African music to create an atmosphere of joy, love and happiness. Other explorers include Newcastle-Upon-Tyne’s Smote’s flute-and-drum-driven music, which conjures up a feeling of bleak magick, reaching for transcendence through repetition. Unable to perform last year, Supersonic Festival is delighted to invite MC Yallah x Debmaster back to the festival, bringing high energy performance and delivering her rapid and tightly controlled flow alongside futuristic hip-hop, grime, punk and trap with Debmaster. Also sadly unable to perform last year, Supersonic is proud to host Matana Roberts, an internationally celebrated composer and performer.
Emma Ruth Rundle is an artist who creates delicate atmospheres which are imbued with an unparalleled emotional heft. She will return to her roots at this year’s festival, performing her debut album, Some Heavy Ocean, 10 years after its release. Some Heavy Ocean is a collection of impassioned, cathartic songs, exorcising the ghosts of one of life’s dark detours. Melancholic, but equally hopeful and devastatingly human, the album wears its emotions on its sleeve.
“I am delighted that I will finally be playing Supersonic fest this year; and in honour of the 10 year anniversary of Some Heavy Ocean, will be performing an intimate solo set that includes most of the album’s material. I love the supersonic community and am so thrilled to be part of this year’s most excellent line up.” – Emma Ruth Rundle
Supersonic relishes in presenting opportunities for communal catharsis through joyous, raucous metal and punk, and bringing high energy to this year’s edition are Melt-Banana with their unorthodox, unclassifiable, and utterly brilliant speed-of-light grindcore. Also playing are Agriculture (signed to The Flenser), whose sublime subversion of the black metal tropes evokes awe-inspiring sublimity. The None are a band comprising members of Blue Ruth, Youth Man, Bloc Party, Young Legionnaire, Cassels and Frauds, their uncompromising vision of noise rock with melody at its heart, channels the spirit of the Jesus Lizard, Silverfish and Unwound. The upcoming Atlanta five-piece Upchuck are a kinetic force of youth and enthusiasm, churning out brutally honest, boisterous tracks that blur the lines between psych rock, punk, and hardcore. What would Supersonic be without some down right dirge? This will be brought to audiences in the 2024 edition by The Shits with their sludgy amalgamation of guitar grit, trashy drums and UK82 era street punk growls.
Supersonic is always looking for new names exploring dark sounds, and looks forward to welcoming Tristwch Y Fenywod to the festival – a Welsh language gothic rock power-coven conjured from the experimental underground. Dame Area craft hypnotic rhythms and distorted synths that blur the lines between chaos and control. Daisy Rickman‘s music reflects her deep connection to the landscapes of Cornwall, creating a sun-soaked realm of sound, where mystical and earthy melodies intertwine. UKAEA will bring their infamous party energy to the festival, and audience participation is encouraged during Womb X Water‘s set – creating space for others to participate in their ceremonial, spiritual, blissful walls of noise. Modified Youth are a young, dynamic two-piece DIY band who ignite a fiery rebellion, and will inspire Supersonic audiences to join their passionate quest for change.
And Supersonic is excited to share this year’s extra curricular line up too…
You can also worship at the shrine of Weird Walk, who will transform the rooftop on Sunday, erecting “standing stones” and creating space for re-enchantment, music and merriment to thrive; or dance along to DJ takeovers from Maxine Peake, Boss Morris, Poor Creature, and Nyahh Records, and live sets from Jacken Elswyth and Haress. You can also experience the immersive zen of Do.omyoga, a communal meditation which promotes collective healing, or test your knowledge with the Freak Zone pub quiz hosted by Stuart Maconie. The excellent performance artist Cosey Fanni Tutti will be in conversation with Maxine Peake during the weekend, and to top it all off you can dance the night away with Homobloc x Fvck Pigs, who will present their gothic camp queer party, PINK SABBATH, on Saturday night.
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