The Great Escape Festival 2026 is already shaping up a weekend where your favourite playlist gets mugged in a back alley and replaced with something somewhat more relevant.
This batch of artists is a snapshot of where “new music” actually lives right now: in the gaps between genres, in DIY corners, and in the moments when a band decides the rules are probably optional.
If you want guitars with bite, Ain’t channel the stranger side of 90s alt rock with enough invention to keep it future-facing, while Bean Magazine blend Pixies-style snap with the melodic sensitivity of songwriter rock. Ringlets arrive from Aotearoa with sharp-edged post-punk wit and technical swagger, and Dublin trio Really Good Time add desert-rock grit plus the nervous energy of electro build-and-drop. For maximum momentum, big long sun turn the stage into a frenzied eight-piece weather system, with words-as-percussion, crooked grooves, and choruses that suddenly open the sky.
On the pop and electronic side, Annie-Dog slips through shapeshifting, self-produced pop, Au/Ra leans into dark, atmospheric genre-blending, and Sistra write emotional electronic music that feels like text messages you never sent, turned into hooks. Persia Holder brings vulnerable pop with a soulful core, while Tukki’s Tottenham-rooted R&B and afro blend hits that sweet spot where rhythm is therapy. Ngaiire’s future-soul glow adds another colour to the palette, and Sophia Thakur reminds everyone that words can headline a set as loudly as guitars.
Then there are the acts who treat music like worldbuilding. The Itch have that word-of-mouth mystique, tessellating New Romantic sheen with rave pulse. Sean Trelford crafts songs, stories, and artwork as one connected universe. Tommy WÁ stretches folk roots into something cinematic and luminous, and Yndling folds heavy guitars into big synthscapes for dream-pop bruises you can dance to.
Add Japan’s BED, fusing punk, techno and electronics into rave rock, plus Vancouver’s PISS turning punk into performance-art collage, and you’ve got a line-up that promises discovery in every direction. Come curious, wear comfortable shoes, and leave a little room in your head for new favourites. Trust the timetable, but trust your ears more, every single night.
TGE – Ato Z
Ain’t
Bringing together the stranger side of ’90s guitar music from both sides of the Atlantic, Ain’t expertly toe the line between nostalgia and ingenuity.
Annie-Dog
Annie-Dog’s material sees her delve into the shapeshifting pop landscape, incorporating the influences of Grimes and Pinkpantheress within her own sublime self-production, attracting several early plaudits in the process.
Ashaine White
Ashaine White strives to be ‘alternative’ in the purest sense of the word. Her dream is to connect people to themselves through her music, and do so by existing as freely and authentically as she possibly can.
Au/Ra
Her powerful, genre-blending sound has created an immersive space where dark themes meet atmospheric production and emotional resonance.
Ava Joe
Cutting their teeth in the rehearsal rooms and jam nights of Kingston and surrounding areas, Ava has established herself as a songstress and performer worthy of centre stage.
Bean Magazine
With musical influences ranging from The Pixies, Radiohead and The Beatles, shaped by artists like Elliott Smith and Smashing Pumpkins, the result is something that is unequivocally Bean Magazine.
Becky Sikasa
Her poetic lyrics explore love, identity, and personal transformation, earning her critical acclaim and growing national recognition. Both of her first two releases were shortlisted for the Scottish Album of the Year Award.
BED
Japan’s BED are known for their genre-blending “rave rock” sound that fuses punk, electronic, and techno elements. They are based in Tokyo and have gained significant attention for their high-energy live performances, international tours, and DIY ethos.
big long sun
big long sun make things happen. Performing as a frenzied 8-strong line-up, they are spearheaded by midlands-born, Brighton-based poet, painter, filmmaker, musician Jamie Broughton (rhymes with ‘thought’-un) – who writes and records everything at his home ‘Boudoir’ studios.
Clothesline from Hell
His music fuses alternative songs written and performed on acoustic guitar with programmed drums and samples, and the result is imaginative, energetic and colourful.
DC3
Driven to express his faith and purpose in an authentic manner whilst fuelled by his Christian roots, the 18 year old’s sound mixes influences from gospel, hip-hop and jazz, a blend that has fusioned together to craft his signature sound.
Dermot Henry
After supporting Irish folk-pop band Kingfishr across Europe, Dermot is emerging as a distinctive new voice in UK alternative folk.
Elsa
In just two years, she’s become the one to watch — recently crowned one of Spotify’s Fresh Finds and BBC’s Featured Artist of the week.
Gareth
Rising star Gareth seamlessly blends traditional Country music with the rich sounds of Irish Folk.
Girl Group
A divine feminine moment in pop culture: whether the riot grrrls of the ’90s, a sleek, honey-voiced R&B trio, or a glam and campy, dancing quintet.
Girl Tones
Girl Tones are a high-energy rock duo brought to life by two sisters named Kenzie and Laila. Both classically trained musicians, Kenzie transitioned from cello to guitar and Laila from piano to drums in an effort to electrify sentient beings from this galaxy to the next.
Isak Benjamin
Stockholm native Isak Benjamin grew up in a musical family and spent time in studios and out on the road with his sisters Johanna and Klara, better known as First Aid Kit.
Jack Devlin
Jack Devlin is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter known for his emotive lyrics, evocative storytelling, and unyielding commitment to his craft. His music explores themes of personal growth and human connection.
James Emmanuel
Edinburgh is where he found a true musical home. His warm, soulful performances have become a mainstay at The Jazz Bar, and his gratitude for Edinburgh’s embrace shines in his track, “Nothing But Love For This City.” Inspired by the challenges he’s overcome and his sense of peace and belonging, he released “Lonesome Man,” a heartfelt debut that resonated far and wide.
Kellan Christopher Cragg
Kellan Christopher Cragg is an 18-year-old Minneapolis-based singer-songwriter, producer, and visual artist redefining what it means to be fully self-contained. As a rare “hundred percenter,” he writes, performs, produces, and visually directs every element of his work—crafting each song and visual piece entirely on his own terms.
Kingfishr (Spotlight Show)
Kingfishr have quickly established themselves as one of the largest rising prospects in Irish music. The band’s grand, atmospheric tone married with their propensity for catchy melodies has resonated with a wide audience.
Ladylike
Brighton’s ladylike inhabit a particular kind of quiet. The candlelight kind. Natural, controlled, and brimming with a subtle euphoria. Delicately treading the tightrope between folk and post-rock, their sound rolls and retreats.
Lily Moore
Having just sold out back-to-back nights at London’s The Lower Third, Moore has emerged with an unstoppable energy, and the kind of raw, soulful storytelling that makes you feel every lyric.
Little Grandad
Americana-indie with a twist: shades of The Band and the 90s alt-country greats, shot through with power-pop urgency. Four-part harmonies, brass bursts, and songs that flip from half-time to double-time.
Madra Salach
Taking inspiration from the growing experimental folk scene in Ireland, the group added members, instruments and electronic elements to emerge with their own compositions, which are at the same time strikingly modern and written with a voice that could have emerged at any point throughout the last century.
Marlon Funaki
Marlon Funaki is a 24-year-old multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter from Redlands, California. He blends alternative rock, psychedelic textures, and jazz-influenced guitar work into expansive, deeply personal songs.
Max Baby
Max Baby never really learned how to make music. He just did it — instinctively, obsessively. He grew up near Bourges, far from any kind of local scene, in a place with no artistic references. At six, he built a drum kit out of cookie tins. Then came the piano, the guitar – which he learned to play in his own strange way, placing his fingers on the fretboard like no one else, until someone showed him a more conventional position.
Meltt
Life cycles through birth, death, and rebirth. Flames reduce objects to dust only for the wind to sweep them into the ether in another eternal form altogether. Meltt’s music resembles this natural sequence. The hum of distorted guitars dissolves into bright melodies carried by shimmering synths and soaring vocals.
Morn
Two sets of siblings are crafting a compelling blend of what they refer to as ‘doom over beautiful chords’ – a mixture of soul-baring vocals draped upon an unfiltered catharsis of energy.
MustBeJohn
mustbejohn is a boundary-pushing UK artist evolving into an indie-alternative sound in 2025. Blending raw storytelling with infectious production, his music draws from city life, friendships, and personal growth, influenced by The Streets, Gorillaz, and Arctic Monkeys.
Ngaiire
Ngaiire (pronounced nigh-ree, rhymes with fiery) is a boundary-pushing Papua New Guinean/Australian artist fusing electronic future-soul, gospel and alt-pop.
Persia Holder
With her blend of emotional pop and soulful storytelling, Persia Holder is part of a new wave of British artists redefining vulnerability.
PISS
PISS is a noisy, genre-bending 4-piece punk band from Vancouver B.C. The band combines music, poetry, sound collage, performance art, and various mediums of visual art to address complex themes that blur the line between personal and political.
Really Good Time
Really Good Time are a power trio from Dublin, Ireland, blending the raw edge of desert rock with the urgency of post-punk, and the infectious build-and-drop energy of 00s electro.
Ringlets
Post-punk quartet Ringlets emerged from Aotearoa’s musical ether in 2021, carving out space with their distinct blend of wit, grit, and sonic technicality.
Saint Clair
London’s newest alternative outfit, Saint Clair – a four-piece blurring the lines between shoegaze and alt-rock. Written for the stage, each song is made to captivate audiences. Moody guitars, introspective lyrics, and a no-frills approach define a band unafraid to leave it all on stage.
sean trelford
Not only does he write, perform, record, and produce his music, he also designs and paints the artwork and pens accompanying short stories. Sean is crafting an entire world for the audience to step into.
Sistra
SISTRA are a London-based sister duo making emotional electronic music – writing songs for each other, saying what the other can’t.
SLAG
SLAG’s live shows are awesome – lots of people have said so.
Sophia Thakur
Acclaimed by the BBC as “The Poet of this Generation” and hailed by Vogue as “One of the most adored poets of our time,” Sophia Thakur has established herself as a powerful generational storyteller.
Tanzana
Glasgow 5 piece Tanzana formed at the start of 2023. They create trip-hop influenced alternative rock music and have been performing consistently on the Glasgow scene.
Teenage Joans
Since Teenage Joans first burst onto the stage in late 2018, they have left every room they play full of brand new and soon-to-be long-time fans. Not only does this two-piece indie/pop-punk powerhouse play beautifully crafted songs that have audiences singing along for the first time they hear them, but the songs are as real and important as they are unapologetic.
The Itch
Having first appeared on the live circuit at the tail-end of 2023, The Itch’s pairing of undulating dancefloor fillers and disenchanted pop songwriting quickly saw their name passed form one gig-goer to another despite a notable absence from social media; as word-of-mouth spread about an act tessellating New Romantic and rave influences on the capital’s sticky-floored circuit.
The OBGMs
The OBGMs fuse punk, rock, and hip-hop into an electrifying sound that’s garnered critical acclaim for “The Ends.” Known for their ferocious live performances, they’ve shared stages with heavyweights like Alexisonfire, Death From Above, PUP, and Billy Talent.
Tommy WÁ
A whole multitude of worlds exist within the music of Tommy WÁ, one of the most special new voices to have emerged in recent years. Drenched in beauty and meaning, the music of the Nigerian-born, Ghana-based artist recalls the glistening atmospheres of Bon Iver and Michael Kiwanuka but has its roots in the African folk music of the mid-20th century.
Tukki
Tukki, a London-born artist from Tottenham, creates a soulful blend of R&B and afro sounds where raw truth meets rhythm. Rooted in her Indonesian, Senegalese, and French heritage, her music explores self-discovery, healing, love, and joy.
Wah Wah Wah
Wah Wah Wah is a psychedelic rock band. Their music combines the raw energy and tone of garage rock with the intricate and refined elements of progressive rock and carries intuitive and youthful energy that makes it uniquely powerful.
Westside Cowboy
Westside Cowboy is a Manchester-based band formed by Reuben Haycocks, James Bradbury, Aoife Anson O’Connell, and Paddy Murphy. The four-piece band draws from folk and rock influences, creating a sound described as “Britainicana,” and is known for their energetic live performances with all members singing harmonies. They gained prominence after winning the Glastonbury Festival’s 2025 Emerging Talent Competition, which secured them a slot on the Woodsies stage.
Yndling
Yndling is the project of norwegian artist and producer Silje Espevik, known for her use of heavy guitars over big synthscapes, introspective lyrics and a soft vocal delivery. Her take on dream pop draws association to acts like Cocteau Twins, Portishead, Massive Attack and Beach House, blending shoegaze, indie, and trip-hop into a cinematic and emotional world.
