With just under three months to go until St. Jerome’s Laneway 2018, we are getting ready to return the stunning surrounds of Albert Park precinct on Auckland Anniversary Day.
There’s been a brilliant response to the line-up with the festival on track for another sell-out. Today the line-up gets even better with the addition of three truly exciting acts – Julie Byrne (US), Noah Slee (NZ) and Wax Chattels (NZ).
Laneway 2018 Dates and Venues
Saturday 27 January | Laneway Festival Singapore | venue details TBC
Monday 29 January | Laneway Festival Auckland | Albert Park Precinct
Friday 2 February | Laneway Festival Adelaide | Hart’s Mill, Port Adelaide
Saturday 3 February | Laneway Festival Melbourne | Footscray Community Arts Centre
Sunday 4 February | Laneway Festival Sydney | Sydney College of the Arts, Rozelle
Saturday 10 February | Laneway Festival Brisbane | Brisbane Showgrounds, Bowen Hills
Sunday 11 February | Laneway Festival Fremantle | Esplanade Reserve & West End
Featuring in alphabetical order:
| Aldous Harding | Amy Shark | Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals | BADBADNOTGOOD | BAYNK | Billie Eilish | Bonobo | Connan Mockasin | D.D Dumbo | Die! Die! Die! | Father John Misty | Julie Byrne | Loyle Carner | Mac DeMarco | Melodownz | Moses Sumney | Noah Slee | Polyester | POND | Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever | (Sandy) Alex G | Slowdive | Sylvan Esso | The Internet | The War on Drugs | TOKiMONSTA | Unitone HiFi | Wax Chattels | Wolf Alice |
Artist Bios:
Aldous Harding
Mesmerising NZ artist ALDOUS HARDING has emerged as one of the year’s most exciting voices. Igniting interest two years ago with her eponymous debut album, Harding quickly became known for her charismatic combination of talent, tenacity and shrewd wit. This year’s follow-up Party (4AD) sees Harding shape-shift through a variety of roles: chanteuse, folk singer and balladeer – all executed with her twisted touch of humour, hubris and quiet horror. Go watch her recent performance on Jools Holland for an inspired and haunting rendition of ‘Horizon’, a career defining moment that brought her the attention she deserves.
Amy Shark
AMY SHARK’s sleeper hit ‘Adore’ has amassed over 25 million streams since she uploaded it to triple j Unearthed just under two years ago. Not bad for someone who had almost given up on music. Earlier this year it romped in to #2 on triple j’s Hottest 100, and peaked at #3 on the ARIA chart. The brooding, coming-of-age track won fans here and abroad, not least of all Lena Dunham who was hardly exaggerating when she said it saved her life. Her debut EP Night Thinker, which features chart mainstay ‘Weekends’ and killer new single ‘Blood Brothers’, is confirmation that Amy Shark is the real deal. After returning from a run of international headline shows this October, we can’t wait for Amy to cap off a huge 18 months at Laneway 2018.
Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals
We are psyched to have one of the world’s most exciting live acts ANDERSON .PAAK & THE FREE NATIONALS on next year’s bill. Breaking out via multiple lauded appearances on Dr. Dre’s surprise 2016 album Compton, .Paak has emerged as one of the most talented triple threats of the decade. The LA-based singer, songwriter and producer is a genre-bending master, effortlessly melding ’60s funk, ’70s soul, hip-hop, R&B and electronica in his own music (please listen to his brilliant 2016 album Malibu) and lending his syrupy vocals to killer singles like Kaytranada’s hit ‘Glowed Up’ and Snakehips ‘Money on Me’. As one of the most prolific and hardworking artists in the biz, we’re anticipating new music v. soon. Anderson .Paak is a genuine star and it is a major honour to have him and his band join us in 2018.
BADBADNOTGOOD
BAYNK
What a difference two years makes. BAYNK aka Jock Nowell-Usticke was an unknown talent with his debut track ‘Sundae’ notching up the listens from all over the world when he was booked for Laneway 2016, and he completely smashed his first ever festival appearance. Now he’s got tours, festivals and a bunch of artistic video clips under his belt and is one of New Zealand’s top five streamed artists on Spotify. What will Baynk do next? Catch him at Laneway to find out.
Billie Eilish
BILLIE EILISH is an unfairly talented teenager with a startlingly mature outlook and irresistible voice. Billie’s meteoric rise began in 2015 when she uploaded ‘Ocean Eyes’ to SoundCloud. She instantly became a veritable phenomenon: an international record deal, over 90 million cumulative streams, global praise from Vogue, Interview Magazine and Elle Magazine (and the list goes on). At 16 years old, Bille will be the youngest member of the Laneway touring party since Lorde’s unforgettable run in 2014. Not unlike Lorde herself, Billie has an undeniable talent for pop songwriting, an impervious sense of self, and inimitable style. We’re certain that Billie will be a stand out of Laneway 2018.
Bonobo
Illustrious UK producer BONOBO‘s steady but unstoppable rise began at the turn of the millennium. Since then he has shared an impressive six full-length releases (incl. 2017’s masterful, magisterial Migration) and earned his title as one of the best electronic acts in the biz. First as a DJ in the UK’s thriving club scene, and now with a live band in tow, Bonobo has converted thousands of people around the globe into genuine fans. Listen to ‘No Reason’ (feat. Laneway alum. Nick Murphy), and get ready for an aural journey at Laneway in 2018.
Connan Mockasin
CONNAN MOCKASIN is the kind of musician that sells out surprise gigs in minutes, shows up on Neil Finn livestreams via skype and collaborates with your faves from home and all over the world. As a songwriter and creative force, his output is otherworldly and surprising, gaining love from music writers in the know, and festival bookers everywhere. The Guardian calls him a “psych punk oddball”. We call him captivating and we’re stoked to have him home for Laneway.
D. D. DUMBO
D.D DUMBO, known to his folks as Oliver Hugh Perry, is an astonishing and highly original songwriter from regional Victoria who bowled over fans and critics alike with his globally lauded debut album Utopia Defeated. His self-recorded debut EP, Tropical Oceans (2013), a lo-fi four song-set of blues-laced, deconstructed pop, which announced Perry as an exciting newcomer fluent in a language all his own but it was the ten tracks on Utopia Defeated that cemented his reputation as one of the most uniquely talented artists around. The album won the prestigious triple j Award for Australian Album of the Year while mesmerising single Satan took out APRA’s Song of the Year. D.D Dumbo’s world class band has sold out shows across Australia and Europe and we’re excited to welcome them to NZ for the very first time.
DIE! DIE! DIE!
One of the more globe-trotting Kiwi bands in recent memory, DIE! DIE! DIE! are set to unleash their sixth studio album Charm. Offensive. in between a packed touring schedule China and Europe spanning the latter half of 2017. While writing for the new album has seen the band “experiment with electronics and instrumental stuff”, we know the live show will be as explosive as ever, and we cannot wait.
Father John Misty
Your secret crush FATHER JOHN MISTY is heading to Laneway in 2018. The alias of singer-songwriter Josh Tillman, FJM has released three widely acclaimed albums – Fear Fun (2012), I Love You, Honeybear (2015) and Pure Comedy (2017) plus the recent single ‘Ballad of the Dying Man’ and has also contributed to songs by Beyoncé and Lady Gaga. Pure Comedy, Father John Misty’s third album, is a complex, often-sardonic and equally touching meditation on the confounding folly of modern humanity. He is also funny a.f., a sarcastic and caustic yet equally sincere voice for the post-internet age.
Julie Byrne
From New York State comes the astonishing alt-folk talent JULIE BYRNE, a sometime Central Park seasonal ranger and modern-day minstrel. Her sophomore album Not Even Happiness was labeled “pristine” by Pitchfork and “timeless” by NME and Consequence of Sound saying it “moves from moment to gorgeous moment.” We cannot wait to lie under the trees at Albert Park with her beautiful music washing over us on a summer afternoon.
Loyle Carner
Erudition, insight and poetic intensity have earned 22-year-old LOYLE CARNER the respect of all the right people: die-hard hip-hop fans, industry insiders and most importantly, his peers. His debut album Yesterday’s Gone is planted at an intersection between the boom-bap of East Coast hip-hop, jazz-inflected portraits of South London, and soulful laid back pop. It’s an intensely personal and candid release, that received near perfect reviews everywhere but it’s on the live stage that the endlessly charming Carner really shines.
Mac Demarco
Melodownz
Moses Sumney
Noah Slee
Coming to Laneway from West Auckland via Berlin are the future-soul stylings of one NOAH SLEE. Complex calls him “New Zealand’s latest pop-soul promise.” With the release of his full-length debut Otherland in August, that promise is well on the way to being realised, with indie shuffle calling his work with producer Ben Esser “a golden combo”. Noah Slee at Laneway is something to look forward to, but in the meantime take a journey to Otherland.
Polyester
Pond
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
After a rip-roaring 12 months, ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER look set to be one of Australia’s break-through guitar bands. Having honed their craft in the thrumming confines of Melbourne’s live music scene, Rolling Blackouts C.F.’s debut EP Talk Tight (2015) earned them multiple international nods and a stellar 8.0 Pitchfork review. Soon after the band signed with coveted US label Sub Pop (The Shins, Beach House, Fleet Foxes) and plugged away at their sophomore EP The French Press (2017). It’s a bloody brilliant effort, beaming with the confidence and purpose of golden-era Australian rock n roll and featuring three songwriters growing in stature and voice.
(sandy) Alex G
Slowdive
Twenty two years on from their last record, SLOWDIVE have made a resounding comeback with their self-titled fourth LP, one of the strongest shoegaze albums of recent years. The band’s live comeback has also been rapturously received around the world. Highlights thus far include a festival-conquering, sea-of-devotees Primavera Sound performance, of which Pitchfork noted: ‘The beauty of their crystalline sound is almost hard to believe, every note in its perfect place.’ Dive into their outstanding catalogue (1991’s Just For A Day, 1993’s Souvlaki and 1995’s experimental Pygmalion) to see why Slowdive has a legion of fans, both new and old. Listen to their gorgeous new single ‘Sugar For The Pill’. We wish every band would age this well.
Sylvan Esso
SYLVAN ESSO’s sophomore album What Now (2017) is the sound of a band truly fulfilling the potential and promise of their debut album. Everything has evolved – the production is bolder, the vocals are more intense, the melodies are brighter, and the songs are that much more expansively open and cohesive. The electro-pop duo from North Carolina, consisting of vocalist Amelia Meath and producer Nick Sanborn, started out in 2014 as a collaboration project between two new friends. Two records and more than 100 million streams later, Sylvan Esso has near-perfected the art of writing a pop song (listen to the album’s third single ‘Die Young’ for proof). This set is going to be energetic fun.
The Internet
THE INTERNET absolutely stole the show when they last played Laneway Festival and they’ve only gotten bigger, better and sexier since. On their third album, the game-changing, Grammy-nominated Ego Death (2015), the Odd Future offshoot truly came into their own. Then to everybody’s surprise, they went out on their own. Front-woman Syd shared her intricate, soulful debut album Fin (she is an undeniable star in her own right) and Matt Martians dropped his funk-infused solo endeavor The Drum Chord Theory. The band’s 18 year-old guitar whiz Steve Lacy is also a highly sought-after hip hop producer (he’s worked with J Cole & Kendrick Lamar) who records everything on his iPhone. This year he shared Steve Lacy’s Demo, a dazzling 6 song release bursting with ideas. We loved them all in equal measure, but tbh we can’t wait for their next record (expected asap) as a team. Hear it first at Laneway 2018!
The War On Drugs
TOKiMONSTA
Unitone HiFi
Wax Chattels
In not much more than a year, the guitarless guitar music of WAX CHATTELS has taken the hardworking post-punk trio all over New Zealand and most recently to Asia for 20+ shows in less than a month. Their confrontational, punishing sound has won them a solid following in the indie scene, getting an international boost when none other than Gillian Anderson shared their song ‘Gillian’. Under The Radar calls Wax Chattels live “a force to behold”, as demonstrated by their live-style video for ‘It’.
