5 to watch: Eurosonic Noorderslag 2015 • Festivals • DIY Magazine

It’s January. We’ve barely put away the Christmas tree and finished off the Quality Street, and already the first festival of the year is on the horizon. Over the next few days, DIY will be heading out to the Dutch city of Groningen for Eurosonic Noorderslag, a melting pot of amazing new bands from around Europe. All your favourite festivals are there picking up bands for this summer’s big events, and this year we’ll be joining them.

There are performances from over 350 bands, all hoping to follow in the footsteps of 2014 success stories George Ezra, Hozier, Jungle and MØ, all of whom played the event last year. Loads to get excited about - here’s five acts from five different countries we’re looking forward to seeing.

Years & Years (UK)

Inventive pop trio with their sights firmly set on being huge in 2015. Early singles pit them somewhere amongst the heady house of Disclosure, but frontman Olly Alexander’s a dab hand for affecting piano ballads, too. They’ve the potential to go anywhere.

Hinds (SP)

The most infectious new live band around. All smiles, in-jokes and calls to raise the speaker volume a few more dials, Hinds have won over anyone stumbling on their path. They mix the raucousness of The Black Lips with the songwriting knowhow of Mac DeMarco.

Ibeyi (FR)

French-Cuban twins with heartbreaking ballads in spades. Raised on the teachings of Yoruba culture, plus a love of hip-hop, Lisa-Kainde and Naomi Diaz create a fascinating hybrid of pop. Their debut album - out in 2015 - is produced by XL head honcho Richard Russell.

MOURN (SP)

A ferocious new signing to Captured Tracks, arriving like a bolt out of the blue. MOURN blend vicious, ‘90s-era PJ Harvey with the snarling bite of HEALTH, or Girl Band. A debut full-length’s out in early 2015.

BEA (NED)

All smoke and gloom, there’s a whole lot of mystery surrounding BEA, a UK-raised, Amsterdam-residing newcomer. So far, her curious pop has embraced every idiosyncrasy available - her latest video also contained 3D dogs, so there’s that too.

Eurosonic takes place between January 14th-17th in Groningen, NL.

Tags: Years & Years, ESNS, Festivals, Features