The 6 new artists you absolutely must see at ALT+LDN

So, who’s up for ALT+LDN, then? It’s coming, and with it, a load of weird, wonderful artists who are twisting music into shapes you never thought possible. As a spotlight on a new noise that takes in hip-hop, trap, electro, metal, punk and anything else with a bit of freak and fight in it, there’s no other fest like it right now.

You’re already pumped for Architects’ headlining slot. But what about some of the other gems on the bill? Let us guide you through the six you have to see…

If you’ve not caught incendiary London grime-punks Bob Vylan yet, your time to remain fashionably late is about to end. Get on their furious state-of-the-country-address We Live Here – in which they take aim at racism, police brutality, poverty and degradation – and immediately be converted. That the song and its themes were thought ‘too much’ to be released as a single only stoked their ire further, saying, “What we do is scarily relevant to our world and the climate we live in and we couldn’t wait another day not to do something about it.” If you’re feeling pissed off about the general 2021-ness of 2021, Bob Vylan are the sonic petrol bomb you’ve been looking for.

What is ‘ugly pop’? Let ZAND show you. A mix of pop, hip-hop and electro that’s filled with jagged edges and broken glass, theirs is a sound that’s catchy in the same way as getting yourself on a rusty nail. On the feisty Bald Bitch, ZAND introduces themselves by flipping off haters, hitting back at men DM-ing abuse and warning you not to touch their green crew cut over a filthy bassline, while the sex-work repping Slut Money is pure sass. ALT+LDN? If you caught them on tour with Bob Vylan recently, you already know it’ll be ugly-pop-LDN by the time ZAND’s done with it.

Occasionally metal, mostly hip-hop, sometime model and full-time creator of thrilling “stripper jams” (her words, she used to be one, so kind of an expert), Dana Dentata is going to bring something unique to ALT+LDN. That something is a greasy glamour and stylish brand of swag. Formerly of LA punks Dentata, Canadian-born Dana’s album drops on September 3, so plenty of time to get familiar with her musical spell. Although if you’ve heard Make It Bounce or DO U LIKE ME NOW?, you’ll already be firmly under it.

It’s pronounced ‘Badlad’, okay? Next question? Yeah, the Oxford trap-metal soundmasher is very good. Splicing heavy sounds with spiky beats and something a bit spooky a la Ghostemane, he veers between murky shadows and roaring wild-eyed and confrontational into the open. At times, there’s a similar seething energy to seeing Slipknot for the first time back in the early days, a coiled spring that goes off suddenly, aggressively and effectively. And he’s got a sing called D!CKHEAD. Good lad.

Bexey was one of the artists Bring Me The Horizon collaborated with on 2019’s lengthily-titled Music to listen to… EP, adding his stamp to the song ~GO TO. And Horizon aren’t the only ones to have spotted something good about the Essex boy – he’s also worked with the late Lil Peep and $uicideboy$. Not that he’s standing on anyone’s shoulders – everyone just wants a piece of his alt.hip-hop skills. After ALT+LDN, you probably will too.

Mimi Barks’ mix of beats, darkness, heavy vibes and aggro screams is a riot. And so beholden to nobody’s rules but her own that the German-born, London dwelling nu-metal lover has given her sound a name: doom trap. “I wanted to separate my music from the Trap Metal scene,” she says. “Where Trap Metal is mostly known for being uplifting and lyrically smug, doom trap for me is more profound. The overall atmosphere is darker and heavier. It has more despair, more dread.” Truly, ALT+LDN is doomed. Trap doomed.

ALT+LDN takes place on August 30 at London’s Clapham Common.

Get your tickets right here.