Well the line-up that Birmingham’s mighty Supersonic Festival assembled last year for its 20th anniversary was awe inspiring and then came this announcement for 2024. Yes the bill is a slayer, a statement of intent to celebrate the vitality of underground music, a wish list that any leftfield listener would find hard to imagine.
But it is happening right in the beating heart of the city, from 30th August to 1st September. There you’ll encounter: alt-folk legend and indie music polymath Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy; the stunning performance art of electronic musician and darkwave chanteuse Gazelle Twin; the deepest sad core of Emma Ruth Rundle looking back on her cathartic 2014 debut ‘Some Heavy Ocean’; and intense doom expressionism that is The Body & Dis Fig’s new collaboration, a partnership that really takes heavy music forward (see the recent Backseat Mafia Review).
That’s just the starters. You’ll pick up from the flyer that today’s folk music boundary breakers have a real presence on the line up: alt balladeer John Francis Flynn; Brìghde Chaimbeul ‘s experimental soundscapes conjured from the Celtic pipes; and harpist Mary Latimore with her intricate, tactile compositions. Lankum also return to the festival, represented in two intriguing new combos, Radie Peat as part of four-piece ØXN and Ian Lynch in the guise of One Leg One Eye.
Supersonic wouldn’t be Supersonic without connection to its metal roots, so step up Melt Bananna, Agriculture, The None, Upchuck and The Shits. Plus, as always, inventive sounds from a global beats perspective will be heard as part of the Supersonic communion with hip hop futurists MC Yallah x Debmaster ,Indonesian industrial fusionists Senyawa and recently discovered gem, singer and bouzouki player Mohammad Syfkhan (reviewed this month in BSM).
If you do need any more persuading that you should make it destination Digbeth early September, catch these highlights from Supersonic 2023. It’s a one of a kind experience.
Tickets for Supersonic 2024 go on sale on 10 am, 1st March HERE
For more info go to the Supersonic Website HERE
