GUIDE & PLAYLIST: The Great Escape Festival 2022

We’re excited to be heading back to The Great Escape Festival in just 3 days time (12th-14th May) to tread Brighton’s pebbled beach and trek around the city trying to catch some of the best new female, non-binary and LGBTQ+ music talent.

GIHE favourites ARXX, Brimheim, Fräulein, Bad Waitress, Mykki Blanco and Ailbhe Reddy will all be singing by the seaside over the long weekend, but we’re excited to discover some brand new artists too. Below is a list of set times of the acts we’re keen to catch at the festival. You can get better acquainted with them by listening to our accompanying Spotify Playlist!

Get your tickets for The Great Escape here.

Don’t forget to check out the line-up for the Alternative Escape too!

 

Thursday 12th May

Fräulein
Playing at: Queens Hotel – 12:15pm-12:45pm

Bad Waitress
Playing at: TGE Beach Stage – 12:30-1:00pm

Grandmas House
Playing at: The MVT Stage – 12:30pm-1:00pm

HIGH SCHOOL
Playing at: Komedia Basement – 12:40-1:00pm

Tolu Makay
Playing at:
Prince Albert – 1:00-1:30pm
Brighthelm – 7:30-8:00pm

EFÉ
Playing at: Prince Albert – 2:00-2:30pm

flowerkid
Playing at: 2:00-2:25pm

Brimheim
Playing at: Waterbear 2:15pm-2:45pm

Kills Birds
Playing at:
TGE Beach Stage – 2:30pm-3:00pm
Horatios – 9:15-9:45pm

Ailbhe Reddy
Playing at: Revenge – 3:20-3:40pm

ARXX
Playing at:
The Hope & Ruin – 3:30-3:50pm
Brighton Youth Centre – 5:10pm

Mykki Blanco
Playing at: The Old Market – 5:15-5:45pm

Bleach Lab
Playing at: Latest Music Bar – 7:15-7:45pm

Spill Tab
Playing at: The Arch – 7:30-8:00pm

Kynsy
Playing at: The Hope & Ruin – 8:00-8:30pm

CASSYETTE
Playing at: Chalk – 8:15-:8:45pm

HUSSY
Playing at: Green Door Store – 8:15-8:45pm

MUNA
Playing at: Amazon New Music Stage – 8:15-8:45pm

Softcult
Playing at: Volks – 9:00-9:30pm

Billy Nomates
Playing at: Komedia Basement – 9:15-9:45pm

Goat Girl
Playing at: Amazon New Music Stage – 10:15-10:45pm

Let’s Eat Grandma
Playing at: The Old Market – 10:15-10:45pm

Lunar Vacation
Playing at: Green Door Store – 10:15-10:45pm

November Ultra
Playing at: One Church – 10:30-11:00pm

 

Friday 13th May

ZAND
Playing at: Revenge – 12:15-12:45pm

SPRINTS
Playing at: Prince Albert – 1:00-1:30pm

Bleach Lab
Playing at: Komedia Basement – 1:15-1:45pm

Gemini Aaliyah
Playing at: Latest Music Bar – 1:15-1:45pm

PEANESS
Playing at: Zahara – 1:15-1:45pm

ALEWYA
Playing at: TGE Beach Stage – 1:20-1:40pm

AMARIA BB
Playing at: Patterns downstairs – 1:30-2:00pm

CMAT
Playing at:
Prince Albert – 2:00-2:30pm
Komedia Basement – 10:15-10:45pm

Fräulein
Playing at: Zahara – 2:15-2:45pm

LIBRALIBRA
Playing at: The MVT Stage – 2:15-2:45pm

Panic Shack
Playing at: Brighthelm – 2:30-3:00pm

Kynsy
Playing at: Prince Albert – 3:00-3:30pm

tora-i
Playing at: TGE Beach Stage – 3:20-3:40pm

Bad Waitress
Playing at:
Green Door Store – 4:00-4:30pm
The Hope and Ruin – 11:00-11:30pm

Rachel Chinouriri
Playing at: Amazon New Music Stage – 6:15-6:45pm

Connie Constance
Playing at: Casablanca – 6:30-7:00pm

Projector
Playing at: The Tempest Inn – 7:00-7:30pm

Witch Fever
Playing at: Volks – 7:00-7:30pm

GROVE
Playing at: Coalition – 7:15-7:45pm

HIGH SCHOOL
Playing at: Horatios – 7:15-7:45pm

Priya Ragu
Playing at: Amazon New Music Stage – 7:15-7:45pm

Stella Donnelly
Playing at: Chalk – 7:15-7:45pm

CIEL
Playing at: Paganini Ballroom (The Old Ship) – 7:30-8:00pm

A.A. Williams
Playing at: The Old Market – 8:00-8:30pm

flowerkid
Playing at: Zahara – 8:00-8:30pm

LIDO PIMIENTA
Playing at: Jubilee Square – 8:15-8:45pm

APRIL
Playing at: Patterns Upstairs – 9:00-9:30pm

EFÉ
Playing at: Komedia Studio – 9:15-9:45pm

ENNY
Playing at: Brighton Dome Concert Hall – 9:15-9:45pm

Panic Shack
Playing at: Three Wise Cats (Casablanca) – 9:15-9:45pm

Prima Queen
Playing at: Horatios – 9:15-9:45pm

ARXX
Playing at: The Mucky Duck – 9:45pm

Let’s Eat Grandma
Playing at: Amazon New Music Stage – 10:15-11:00pm

Lime Garden
Playing at: TGE Beach Stage – 10:15-11:00pm

Wallice
Playing at: Horatios – 10:15-10:45pm

Momma
Playing at: Horatios – 11:15-11:45pm

Nuha Ruby Ra
Playing at: Komedia Studio – 12:15-12:45am

Porij
Playing at: Komedia Basement – 12:30-1:00am

 

Saturday 14th May

Maria Uzor
Playing at: Revenge – 12:10-12:40pm

Dream Nails
Playing at: Three Wise Cats (Casablancas) – 12:15-12:45pm

HAWXX
Playing at: Volks – 1:00-1:30pm

C’est Karma
Playing at: Prince Albert – 1:15-1:45pm

Fräulein
Playing at: Volks – 2:00-2:30pm

Softcult
Playing at: Green Door Store – 2:30-3:00pm

WOOM
Playing at: One Church – 3:00-4:00pm

Gemini Aaliyah
Playing at: Zahara – 3:30-4:00pm

Stella Donnelly
Playing at: 3:35-4:00pm

Jessica Winter
Playing at: The Arch – 6:15-6:45pm

CASSYETTE
Playing at: Concorde 2 – 6:30-7:00pm

Kay Young
Playing at: The Arch – 7:15-7:45pm

Sinead O’Brien
Playing at: Coalition – 7:15-7:45pm

Gen and the Degenerates
Playing at: The Hope and Ruin – 9:00-9:30pm

SPRINTS
Playing at: Prince Albert – 9:00-9:30pm

Coach Party
Playing at: Coalition – 9:15-9:45pm

LIDO PIMIENTA
Playing at: One Church – 9:15-9:45pm

Rachel Chinouriri
Playing at: Patterns downstairs – 9:30-10:00pm

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

Track Of The Day: Secret World Orchestra ft. Circe – ‘It’s All Over’

A tender electronic musing on the fluctuating nature of love, Secret World Orchestra and Circe have shared their new collaborative track ‘It’s All Over’. Taking musical and lyrical cues from Circe’s previous single ‘Mess With Your Head‘, Secret World Orchestra aka Jules Konieczny (who is one half of alt-pop duo APRE) has extrapolated on the original piece, providing listeners with a warm rush of euphoria via his glitchy beats and atmospheric synth textures.

“I really wanted to capture that feeling of being lonely on the dance floor at the end of the night, where all your friends are around you but you still feel as if you are the only one there,” Konieczny explains about the new track. “It was born out of an accident and became its own collaborative monster without a second thought between Circe and I, so it feels like the perfect way to introduce Secret World Orchestra to the world.”

By blending Circe’s tender, alluring vocals and enigmatic lyrics with his glistening electronics, Konieczny softly reveals the realities of loneliness and love on ‘Its All Over’, something which Circe elaborates on:

“This song is like waking up after a fight with your love on a dance floor, and they are still there next to you. Your heart is fluttery, your face is sparkly, their body is warm and it’s all okay. A line from the song is from Shakespeare: ‘you gave me your heart / so I gave you a pound of flesh’. Measuring a relationship as a series of exchanges, the currency of love: swap you a fragile heart for the heat of a body? It encapsulates that moment after the honeymoon phase where you see each other for real. That exact moment where you see them at their worst, and you forgive them and you still love them – that’s where the beauty of life lives.”

Listen to ‘It’s All Over’ below.

 

Follow Secret World Orchestra on Spotify, Twitter & Instagram

Follow Circe on Spotifybandcamp, YouTubeTikTok, Twitter & Instagram

Photo Credit: Secret World Orchestra and Circe

Kate Crudgington
@kate_crudge

Track Of The Day: Real Big Sky – ‘Jess’

A reverb-heavy, atmospheric guitar tune permeated with enigmatic lyrics and swirling, crashing percussion, Gothenburg four-piece Real Big Sky have shared their latest single ‘Jess’. Taken from the band’s self-titled debut album which is set for release this summer, the track blurs powerful riffs with melancholic vocals to create a commanding four minutes of brooding indie noise.

Originally created as a distraction for multi-instrumentalist Sara Kleppe (You Break, You Buy, Gold Baby) during the Covid-19 lockdowns here in the UK in 2020, Real Big Sky began life as a solo project which Kleppe worked on at home in her bedroom in Hackney. Making good use of her time during an unpredictable year, Kleppe picked up her old electric guitar and began working out songs and sounds that would eventually form the eight tracks on Real Big Sky’s album. Kleppe relocated back to her native Sweden in 2021, and now Real Big Sky have now blossomed into a full band made up of her friends and family members.

With the help of friend & long-term collaborator Luca Romano – who also played drums and was on recording, mixing and production duties for the record – Real Big Sky’s sound is now fully fleshed and ready to be released into the world. The band’s debut single ‘Long Lost’ was a heavy lullaby which aimed to soothe the sting of loneliness, but their latest offering ‘Jess’ feels darker and more introspective – whilst still retaining the cathartic, moody essence of Real Big Sky’s sound.

Listen to ‘Jess’ below.

Follow Real Big Sky on bandcampSpotifyFacebook & Instagram

Photo Credit: Johanna Kleppe

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

Track Of The Day: Tomberlin – ‘Sunstruck’

A tender ode to self autonomy and prioritising your own emotional well-being, American songwriter Sarah Beth Tomberlin has shared her latest single ‘sunstruck’. Taken from her second album, I don’t know who needs to hear this… which is set for release on 29th April via Saddle Creek, the track is a comforting reflection on the often difficult journey towards actively choosing to love yourself, explored through her gentle guitar picks and poignant lyrics.

From breaking away from her religious roots as a Pastor’s daughter in Kentucky, to relocating to New York to play music and featuring as a guest vocalist on Phoebe Bridgers’ last album Punisher, Tomberlin’s unconventional journey into music has paved the way for her exquisitely confessional songwriting. On her latest single ‘sunstruck’, she muses on the need for time with one’s self in order to move past an un-balanced relationship, as she points out in the succinct lyric “nothing will come / from an ever flowing cup / when you’re too fucked / to fill it back up.”

“This is an aerial view love song that is also not a love song,” Tomberlin explains about ‘sunstruck’. “It is more a love song to forced distance, time alone with yourself, letting go, searching for yourself and the healing that takes place when you make those things an active focus in your life. These things are choices, they don’t just happen on their own. You can choose to practice them or you can choose stagnancy. This is a love song to the growth that often can take place if you choose to tend to your own life’s garden.”

Listen to ‘sunstruck’ below.

Follow Tomberlin on bandcampSpotifyTwitterFacebook & Instagram

Photo Credit: Michelle Yoon

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut