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HowTheLightGetsIn Festival announces 2018 First Music Acts

Award-winning electro-noir sensation, Bloom Twins

  • ‘Hugely impressive’ pop trio Stealing Sheep (The Guardian)
  • London-based rock quintetHarpo Smith
  • Flamboyant gypsy-jazz-folk queen Gabby Young
  • London Cabaret Award winners Bourgeois and Maurice

HowTheLightGetsIn, the world’s largest music and philosophy festival – landing in the heart of London this September - has today announced the first of many additions to its 2018 Music Line-Up.

Running alongside the festival’s Debates & Talks programme, which addresses some of the biggest and most pressing issues of our time, HowTheLightGetsIn ignites the party with electrifying performances, in a unique mix of ideas and music.

Models, multi-instrumentalists and singers the Bloom Twins lead the music bill with their self-penned, intoxicating songs with haunting electronic melodies. Featured as MTV Iggy’s Artists of the week, with performances on BBC news-night and profiles in magazines such as Vogue and ID, the Twins are making waves in the pop world.

They’ll be joined by Stealing Sheep. Since the release of their "hugely impressive" (BBC) debut, Stealing Sheep have toured as guests of Postal Service and Alt-J and opened for St. Vincent. Named the Guardian’s new band of the week, their experiments with tuned percussion, programmed beats, and effected synths, lead them out of folk into something entirely their own.

Returning to HowTheLightGetsIn once again, festival favourites Harpo Smith are sure to ignite the party this September. Described by The Telegraph as “like Arcade Fire with better lyrics”, film star Orlando Seale and his epic band Harpo Smith will make you dance, laugh and cry with tales of the concrete jungle, from the caffeinated highs to the gin street lows of the capital. For this London debut, they’re sure to be a hit.

Elsewhere, Fender Undiscovered Artist of 2017 Hattie Briggs joins the line-up alongside the “velvet vocals and cliché-free lyrics” (Tom Robinson, BBC Radio 6) of the Aaron Douglas Trio. Also on the line-up is the Alex Cornish, whose latest musical foray was described as “a beautiful album that has Mercury Music Prize nomination written all over it” (The Sunday Times).

Glastonbury legend Gabby Young Band also joins the bill with her unique fusion of jazz, funk, gypsy, chanson and pop, all bundled up with an undeniable stage presence. London Cabaret Award Winners Bourgeois and Maurice bring a provocative and subversive originality following sell-out shows at the Edinburgh Fringe. Plus, exciting and infectious 7 piece Hard-Groove band London Beat Club promise an infectious attitude and live performances bursting with energy.

- Music Line-Up -

Bloom Twins / Stealing Sheep / Harpo Smith /

Gabby Young / Bourgeois and Maurice / Hattie Briggs

Aaron Douglas Trio / Jakey Boy Hughes / Justin Lewis Preece

London Beat Club / The Fordsons / Kai Henderson /

Ella Sutton / Mo’s Not Just Jazz Duo / Wednesday’s Wolves

Frankie Wesson / Anne Marie-Sanderson / Alex Cornish

Citrus Society / Bradley Higgins / Selena In the Chapel

Sheek Quartet / Siwan Thomas-Howells / Sadie Flemming

Jacob and Drinkwater / Wicked Splinters

Festival director Hilary Lawson commented: “Nowhere else on earth are ideas and entertainment so closely intertwined – we’ve had Nobel Prize winners rubbing shoulders with Brit and Mercury award-winners and Grammy nominees. With over 30 unique acts across 12 spectacular stages, this year’s sensational line-up of artists looks set to be the biggest party yet!”

Taking place 22 – 23 September in the spectacular gardens of Kenwood House on Hampstead Heath, HowTheLightGetsIn will feature more than 100 events, including over 50 debates and talks, 30 musicians and performers, comedy, workshops, documentaries and more. More music acts will be announced over the coming weeks.

Limited Festival Tickets remain. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit: https://howthelightgetsin.org/london