10 Breakout Indie-Rock Stars Of 2019's Summer Festival Season

Where did these lot come from?

Who doesn't love a good festival? So many artists, so many stages, so little time. It's the perfect excuse to dance (or, depending on the act, mosh) around in increasingly muddier fields to your heart's content, if you can get through the camping that is.

Let's face it though, no one really knows everyone who's playing. So while we're all there for the headliners, going back and forth between tents and stages watching artists you may or may not have heard of is an integral part of the festival culture. Unfortunately, going in blind may mean you end up watching some, let's say questionable, acts. And yeah, we've all been there.

However, one of the best parts of the festival experience is having your socks completely knocked off by someone previously off your radar, prompting you to have their songs on repeat on the long journey home. In fact, the summer festival season is the best opportunity for potential up-and-comers to showcase their talent in front of swaths of music fans. Because of this, it's common for artists to go from zero to indie-rock hero in the space of a few short months.

2019 was certainly no different. So, to ease some of those post-festival blues, here's a look at some of the newly knighted big players.

10. Whenyoung

One of the more intriguing bands to make their mark this year, whenyoung kicked their summer off by releasing their debut album Reasons To Dream in May.

The Irish indie-pop outfit fill the LP with a mix of wailing guitars, charming vocals and a even few splashes of disco. Throughout, they are able to go from big-stage-ready tunes to quieter, more heartfelt tracks, with Never Let Go and A Labour Of Love being undeniable high-points.

Journaling the experiences each of them had when they moved separately from Limerick to London, their first outing uses them to deal with powerful lyrical themes. The Others is a great example of this, focusing on their perspectives on the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

After showing off their new music in festivals such as TRNSMT and Latitude, they then capped off the summer by playing in front of their native crowd at Electric Picnic.

With another headline tour and opening sets for The Libertines in their books for the remainder of the year, 2019 has been the year where whenyoung truly came of age (pun intended).

 
Posted On: 
Contributor

Born in the Med but made up north. Loves a cheesy action flick almost as much as the walk back to the seat after another round of karaoke