Here are our top picks for Reading Festival this weekend.
Dan D’Lion
Reading’s own Dan D’Lion has been making considerable waves in the music scene since he dropped his first EP, BETTERMAN, in 2019.
His personal, introspective style is difficult to pin down, it seems by design.
While there are clear soul and electro-funk influences, his approach seems to follow its own direction with a confidence and assurance that usually comes from somebody with more than a decade of songwriting experience.
He was also recently ear-marked by Reading’s Indie Rock royalty The Amazons, who were spotted at his recent gig at the Purple Turtle.
Dan D’Lion is definitely one to watch.
Dan D’Lion is playing the BBC Introducing stage at 20:30 on Friday, August 26.
Glass Animals
Glass Animals have come through a lot to find themselves where they are, which is on the precipice of pop royalty.
The band’s first album, 2014’s Zaba, is a heady, psychedelic mix of unusual instrumentation and intoxicatingly smooth vocals, compiled with a distinctly accessible attitude.
While every song on the album has a distinct flavour, they form a cohesive, in-depth exploration of a strange musical landscape.
The band was the first to be signed to Wolf Tone, the label owned by legendary British producer Paul Epworth.
The band’s second album was more head on, with distinctly rocky and pop elements bleeding in and serving only to build on their success with their debut album.
Their third album took another turn, after drummer Joe Seaward was severely injured after being struck by a lorry.
The resulting album saw the deeply personal response to the accident explored through the band’s lens, resulting in a nostalgia-tinged collection.
With the album entering the UK charts at number 2, single Heat Waves reached number 5 in the UK, spent a record-breaking 59 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, and was nominated this year for Best British Single at the Brit Awards.
Glass Animals are playing Main Stage West at 7.10pm on Friday, August 25.
Denzel Curry
It’s easy to forget that Denzel Curry has only been releasing music for ten years, as his music exudes a decades-long quality of craft which belies his youth.
Curry released his fifth studio album, Melt MY Eyez See Your Future, which sees his distinctive style of hip-hop infused with trap, drum and bass, and even poetry.
It also features collaborations with some of the biggest artists of the genre, including T-Pain, Rico Nasty, Slowthai, JPEGMafia, and 6LACK.
Curry has described the album as something of a departure from his usual work, explaining that he is moving away from alter egos and expressing more personal feelings through the tracks.
As well has his own album, he’s recently collaborated with Dot Da Genius and Kid Cudi on Talk About Me.
Denzel Curry is playing Main Stage East at 2.40pm on Sunday, August 28.
The 1975
While some will be disappointed that Rage Against the Machine have pulled out of the festival, Sunday’s new headliner, The 1975, is certainly not out of place in their spot.
The band has been performing for 20 years, so many will be familiar with the songs which catapulted them to fame such as Girls, Chocolate, and Sex.
When the band headlined Reading Festival in 2019, they played People, a punk rock song that had released the same day, ahead of an upcoming album release.
They are currently on the verge of a new era, with the release of their fifth studio album, Being Funny in a Foreign language, due for release on Friday October 14.
Could it be that they’ll drop another new single this time?
The 1975 are playing the headline slot at 9.10pm on Sunday, August 28.
Circa Waves
Circa Waves have gone from strength to strength since their debut single in 2013.
By the time their debut album, Young Chasers, was released in 2015, they’d already played Reading and Leeds, Glastonbury, Latitude, and Summersonic, as well as touring with The 1975.
After the album went to number 10 in the UK charts, the band would return to R&L for an unforgettable set, followed by a UK-wide tour.
One of the singles, T-Shirt Weather, charted in the UK and in Japan, earning Silver certification and cementing them as a not-so-indie darling.
Their mixture of summery surf rock and pop was encapsulated, and has only developed and diversified on the three albums since.
Their most recent, double release Sad Happy, instils their indie rock sheen with a melancholy edge, especially in the eminently danceable title track.
Sad Happy went to number 4 in the UK album charts when it was released in 2020.
Circa Waves are playing Main Stage East at 4.45pm on Friday, August 26.
The Sherlocks
Sheffield-based band The Sherlocks seem to have arrived fully formed when they played R&L in 2015.
While it wasn’t their first festival appearance, they had only released three singles up to that point.
But those singles, especially debut track Live for the Moment, felt immediately like the work of a band who knew who they were and what they wanted.
Signing more than a year later, their debut album was released in 2017 with the undeniably infectious Chasing Shadows as the title track.
Their second album, Under Your Sky, saw a considerable development of the band’s style, though it retained the hooky, indie rock sensibilities they’d come to embody.
Then in January 2022, they released their much anticipated third album, World I understand, which was again commended for walking the delicate line between rehashing their old sound and over-developing into something else entirely.
The Sherlocks are playing Main Stage West on Saturday, August 27.
