With just seven weeks to go Body&Soul Festival - which takes place in Ballinlough Castle - has announced even more acts taking to the 2015 main stages. A mix of cutting-edge new talent and reunited fan favourites, this year’s programme lifts the lid on a summer sizzler festival set.
Sloping down from the woodlands into a natural vale is the beating heart of the festival, the intimate, open-air Body&Soul main stage, where Super Furry Animals will electrify the crowds. Reuniting for their first shows in six years to mark the 20th anniversary of their debut gigs, the explosively innovative Welsh indie-rock band will play from their back catalogue of tracks and masterful mix of psychedelic rock and electronic experimentation, as well as tracks from their re-released Welsh language album Mwng. Their instantly familiar sounds are a brilliant blend of melodic, derisive, and artsy rock and roll.
Montreal born DJ and producer Tiga has worked the mainstream and the underground with his own brand of electro and techno for more than a decade. Credited with bringing the acid house sound to Canada, and starting its rave culture, he imbues his prolific, masterful songs with personality and a distinctive voice.
Combining sound aesthetics of BAFTA-winning composer Ólafur Arnalds’ acoustic, piano-based solo work, and Janus’s Rasmussen synth-heavy electro pop, Kiasmos have created a captivating ambient and textured electronic sound. Vin Gordon, Jamaica’s most prolific trombonist and Bob Marley’s trombonist, will be on stage with the Real Rock Band creating the smoothest roots rock reggae sounds, fitting the summer solstice festival vibe. Teenage multi-instrumentalist SOAK will bring her raspy, vulnerable voice and oblique poetic narratives that beautifully complement her own brand of alternative folk music to the stage. Rising stars Kuenta i Tambu (also known as KiT ) have created a new sound; a go-hard blend of peak rave synths and traditional Afro-Curaçaoan tambú music. Kuenta i Tambú translates as ‘words and drums’, bringing the sounds of ‘work songs’ originating from the island of Curaçao all the way to Ballinlough.
CLU is inspired by 1980s science fiction films and 8 bit computer soundtracks. Dublin-born musician Sean Cooley and artist Kevin Freeney formed CLU in 2011 as a way to play music and showcase artwork simultaneously in venues and galleries. Cloud Castle Lake is a three-piece band of equal parts pastoral folk and soaring post-rock crescendos. Their atmospheric and dynamic music gives a feeling of being somewhere else, aloft with the sound, following its voice. Irish trio Bleeding Heart Pigeons effuse an entirely singular sound - quietly operatic and theatrical, it distorts and dissects the fundamentals of alternative rock, alternating between strong guitar and piano lullaby to trebly finger picking and droning electronics. Kildare duo Michael Hopkins and Andrew Lloyd bring Planet Parade to Ballinlough this year to showcase their idiosyncratic sound.
In addition to main stage acts, Body&Soul welcomes Chai Wallah to the festival in a new, 2,000 capacity, live venue. The award-winning venue comes to Body&Soul with a diverse roster of exciting emerging artists and legendary party vibes. With every day following a different musical theme, expect northern soul, old skool funk, folk, electro swing, jazz, electronica, trip hop, hip hop, Afro beat, Afro funk, big brass bands, ska, reggae, bootleg beats, and vintage remixes.
For more information visit www.bodyandsoul.ie
