In just over forty-eight hours, Primavera Sound 2023 will be officially opening its gates in Barcelona for Day One of the festival. Kicking off the festivities will be LGBT legends Pet Shop Boys followed by other headliners like Blur, Rosalía & Depeche Mode throughout the weekend before it moves on to Madrid.
Before we go any further we should also add that if you are not able to attend the festival this year then make sure you catch the live stream on Amazon’s Twitch channel. Find out all the info here.
The Estrella Dam & Santander stages are going to be where it’s at if you’re coming to see some of the biggest acts on the planet right now. But if you fancy exploring this year and discovering your next favourite band, there’s so much to be seen across the other stages during the festival.
So Loverboy thought we would share with you some of our Ones To Watch and where you’ll be finding us this year!
Voices From The Lake
Italians Dozzy and Neel have been friends united by a shared vision of music since their teenage years. They are immaculate sculptors of sound who fuse evocative ambient and leftfield techno into multi-layered soundscapes. We stumbled across them at last year’s Mira festival and they were absolutely one of the highlights.
This year the pair will be playing the new Pull & Bear stage, just before midnight, carrying you through to the early hours of the weekend. Don’t go in expecting House bangerz, this duo are all about the slow build. You’ll be vibing along to the ambient sounds, layer by layer, as they take you on a journey.
The Comet Is Coming
It’s no secret that Britain’s jazz scene is flourishing right now. Shabaka Hutchings is one of the key figures, fronting the recently-split Sons of Kemet as well as the jazz, funk electronica of The Comet Is Coming. Last year they dropped their thrid studio album Hyper-Dimensional Expansion Beam which is totally nuts in the best possible way, filled with funk, horns, big drums and trippy electronic production. We’ll be staying up until 4am on the Thursday/Friday for their sunrise set and we can think of no better time to watching them. If you’re looking for an outer-body experience this will be it.
Anish Kumar
We’ve been keeping an eye on Anish Kumar ever since he dropped his massive Postcards EP last year. Getting support from the likes of Four Tet & Pete Tong, Anish loves a House vocal sample, a big bouncy beat and an occasional left turn, and so do we! We instantly copped his first vinyl last year, Bollywood Super Hits! and we cannot wait to see where he’s headed next. Catch him play the Pull & Bear stage this Saturday.
ElectronICON
One crew we’re excited to be catching this weekend is the 100% Electronica night at Apolo on Sunday as part of the Ciutat shows. The vaporwave indie label will be showcasing some of their acts in LA2. Label head, George Clanton, writes music that some have wrongfully called 90s pastiche. The music is so pure, so carefully considered that it’s not pastiching anything, it’s continuing as though the 90s never ended. What kind of paradise is this? He recently dropped ‘Justify Your Life’ which gives you al kinds of William Orbit, Moby 90s production with a Savage Garden vocal. Here for all of this.
Joing him will be labelmates Neggy Gemmy, Windows96, FM SKyline and more.
Sudan Archives
Our last one is not so much of a secret, Sudan Archives is already properly blowing up. Her album Natural Brown Prom Queen has been a permanent fixture in our lives since it dropped last September. A former punk who now sings Alt-RnB and incorporates playing the violin casually into her show, she pulls from a range of influences to give you the best time. Having been touring the US for a while, we’re excited to finally get her over to Europe!
For tickets and all the latest info on Primavera Sound 2023,
see www.primaverasound.com
