From supermodel* to Tooth, Love Spells to Au/Ra: these are four of the hottest rising talents taking on Victoria Park this August.
We’re deep in summer’s majesty. It hasn’t rained in weeks (impending doom impending doom dee dah), Aperol Spiritz’s stock price has risen by 20%, and festivals are raging. The end is heartbreakingly near. You can just about see its monotonous, falling leaves in the distance. But if you’re in London, or you’re cool, or you’re both, we’ve got a hell of a swansong in store.
In steps: All Points East. The quintessential festival series that blesses the English capital with a handful of stunning day events, bringing the biggest and best artists to Victoria Park. This year, across the weekends of 21st-23rd August and 28th-30th August, world-beaters like Tyler, the Creator, Jorja Smith, Tems, Lorde, Zara Larsson, Dijon, PinkPantheress, Twenty One Pilots, Turnstile, Deftones, JPEGMAFIA, and so many more will be partying with huge crowds in East London.
But there’s also scores and scores of the hottest new talent bringing their distinct innovation to the festival grounds. Some you may have heard of, some maybe not. But who do we at Wonderland think you should definitely be checking out? Keep scrolling to find out. Oh, and don’t sleep on the remaining All Points East tickets…get them while you can.
Love Spells
Hypnotic and tranquillising yet rousing and anthemic, Love Spells’ music is romantic and cinematic, the kind you welcome into your ears when life feels at its most overwhelming. An alum of the school of Kevin Abstract and now a regular collaborator of Dominic Fike and Deb Never, Spells – aka Sir Taegen Harris – has crafted an otherworldly but intimate sonic essence that comes to a head on his wonderful new debut album.
LOVE IS THE LAW, released on 24th July via RCA Records, is a rich and deeply emotional musical journey, of dreamy soul and adventurous dream pop, masterfully nostalgic in a way that feels heartfelt rather than cliched. He’ll be bringing the new record to All Points East on Friday 28th August, joining Tyler, the Creator, Turnstile, Mariah the Scientist, et all in East London for what is set to be a glorious day of music.
Key Track:
Read the interview…
Your journey from living without a roof at 18 to your current success is remarkable. What are you most thankful for right now?
I’m just thankful to be here. I’m thankful for the people listening. I said this the other day, but everything feels right at this moment in time.
Congratulations on sharing your debut album, LOVE IS THE LAW! What does the album mean to you as a piece of art and a shard of your personhood?
It’s a grand declaration, it’s in your face, it’s nothing to hide. I want people to make memories to it, like real ones they carry with them for years.
If Love Is The Law, how do you break it?
You break it when you stop being honest, with yourself or with the people in your life.
You’re playing at All Points East Festival next month. What makes the festival special?
Honestly I’ve never left the United States so the whole thing is new to me. I’m just excited to see London and play in front of people who found music from the other side of the world.
What’s your favourite or funniest festival memory?
I just played my first festival at Lollapalooza in Chicago and it’s something I’ll never forget. The faces in that crowd are going to stick with me for the rest of my life.
Tooth
The latest wave of UK bands is as good as it’s been in 20 years right now. There are countless fresh faces putting their spin on canonical British guitar music, adding in smatterings of influences across genres and geographical locations to make once derivative sounds feel exciting and essential again.
Take Tooth, the swiftly rising London quartet who cemented their seat at indie’s contemporary banquet with an excellent June-released debut EP, “Restless in Bloom”. Influenced by Midwest emo while anthemic in the way that only a select cohort of British bands have ever managed, the five-pronged project is gritty and angsty, poised to send hundreds of watchers into swirling pits of mosh at All Points East on 23rd August alongside Deftones, Idles and JPEGMAFIA.
Key Track:
Read the interview…
You wrote and gigged together for years before sharing your debut EP last month. Is patience the key to success?
Charlie: I think when we were just getting started, we spent lots of time changing bits in songs or figuring stuff out, always trying to learn from what we’re listening to at the time. There was definitely a lot of patience necessary. We’re still trying new stuff at gigs, and coming off the back of this tour we’re going to get back in the studio and get some new ideas out, which we’re buzzing for. It’s been moving pretty fast recently!
What makes you feel most restless?
Tom: In reference to the song, restlessness is an overwhelming feeling that maybe everyone goes through at a certain point in their young adult life. It comes through experiences that you see in the distance and then take on, that shape you and your understanding of them.
An indie revival is in full force right now. Why do you think guitar bands are popular – and good – again?
Roy: I don’t think guitar bands have ever not been popular. It seems like everything has a space to be ‘popular’ at the moment, and there’s so much crossover between subgenres. That’s something we really enjoy; because our taste is so varied, we’re able to take inspiration from so much stuff that floats across our orbit. Hopefully in our next body of work we’ll be able to express that more.
You’re playing at All Points East Festival next month. What makes the festival special?
Ben: All Points East has always been a highlight of our summer. A couple of years back, I went with my girlfriend, who was keen to catch Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Walkmen, and then Turnstile last year, which was accompanied by torrential rain. It’s always been a staple in the calendar, and it’s weird that we’re finally getting to play it.
Have you got any festival horror stories? Spill!
Tom: Last summer, we played our first festival up north at Kendal Calling. We played the Woodland stage to only a handful of people, but we were happy just to be there, to be honest. I don’t remember too much from after the show, but I do remember opening one of the portaloo doors by the main stage to find a nasty surprise someone had left on top of the toilet seat with a burning candle sticking out of it. There was something quite cinematic about it, but I ran far away in fear. That was pretty horror.
supermodel*
Did you know supermodel* used to live in England? His hit breakout single is a satirical breakdown of existence in the north of England, written by the Virginia-born, now LA-based innovator, who spent years living in Liverpool, plucking pieces of the city’s musical lineage into his genre-boundless, charisma-laden artistic approach.
He has just released “cupid”, a ten-track mixtape that serves as the longest and most cohesive exemplar of what’s to like about supermodel*. And that is plenty – swimming in swagger, lyrically sharp, instrumentally fresh and progressive, all videos for the new tape have come co-directed by Ashlan, who was BROCKAMPTON’s official photographer. Performing alongside Love Spells and many more on Friday 28th August, supermodel* is bringing his unique, undeniable sound to Viccy park for us all to enjoy.
Key Track:
Read the interview…
What does Liverpool do better than LA? And vice versa?
Liverpool for live music and cost of living. LA for weather and burritos.
What’s the best way to counteract a Blue Monday?
Tuesday.
What makes a supermodel a supermodel? What are the key traits?
It’s about the attitude. I think anyone can be a supermodel, just go smoke a cigarette and don’t
give a fuck.
You’re playing at All Points East Festival next month. What makes the festival special?
We’ve been playing festivals all over Europe this summer and I can say confidently the All Points East lineup is the best.
What’s your dream festival headline trio?
Me, Justin Bieber, Nirvana
Au/Ra
Alt pop riser Au/Ra has that cherished ability to say and sound exactly how she feels. Blending a smorgasbord of stylistic cores – from anthemic pop to edgy electronica and alternative rock – on her new debut album, the London artist delivers a spectacle, world-building beyond lyrics, instrumental and melody.
heartcore sprawls across 50 minutes and 16 tracks, delivering a dark, progressive narrative about trauma and turmoil, realisation and growth. This one is for the moodiest among us – join her on the pop day of dreams at All Points East on Saturday 22nd August, alongside Lorde, PinkPantheress, Zara Larsson and so, so many more.
Read the interview…
What are three things that make you feel happy?
Oh wow, there are so many but the top three things would probably be being around the people I love, escapism through video games/anime/manga/etc, and scavenging to find a good trinket treasure. and also, really really yummy food.
Your full-length debut heartcore is a concept album. Where did the idea come from and how did it grow into a 16-track record?
I’ve always been super inspired by fictional worlds, gaming, anime, and especially fantasy; it’s a huge part of my creative origin, like I literally wrote a Lord of the Rings fan fiction on Wattpad. That’s actually where I got my artist name from. It only felt natural that as I was going through this healing journey and revisiting a lot of things from the past, I would also return to the world that I loved so much growing up, which was Middle-earth, and kind of got inspired by that. Also, all the gaming spaces that I used to be in, like Nintendo ds so having the pixel/8-bit dungeon crawler vibe combined with fantasy, those are my safe places. Then, as an actual concept and narrative started to build around it, it just took on a life of its own, and once I had that world in place, I could’ve written forever.
The work oscillates between reality and fantasy. Do you think it’s important to sometimes live through our dreams?
Absolutely. I think living through fandoms and fiction has helped me so much growing up, especially because I felt quite out of place in reality. Fantasy actually helped me feel more grounded, which is kind of a paradox, but those worlds are so beautiful to escape into and having a big imagination and getting immersed has helped me so much throughout my life, obviously. This is also a journey that the heartcore character goes on throughout the album: you can’t stay in that fantasy world. You do have to face reality to overcome certain struggles. You can’t just stay there, as nice as it would be.
You’re playing at All Points East Festival next month. What makes the festival special?
I’ve been wanting to play this festival since I first started coming to London like eight years ago, so it’s incredibly exciting. I’ve been living in London for the last few years, and it’s been on my list, so I feel very, very excited and honoured to finally be able to play there. Hometown festival!
What’s your top three festival essential items?
Beefy external battery pack, EOS lip balm (the round one), and hand sanitiser.
Words – Ben Tibbits
