Canterbury’s new flagship festival for experimental music, Shadowlands, has announced its full line-up for its 2027 maiden outing. Held at the University of Kent’s Gulbenkian Arts Centre, the four-day festival will see JG Thirlwell bring his project Foetus to the UK for the first time in over 25 years, backed by a 20-piece chamber orchestra, as well as sets by Lustmord and Test Dept.
Shadowlands was announced this July as an international festival for what Shadowlands’ promotion team calls the “adventurous listening category” of music. Former Head of Artistic Development at the Royal Festival Hall and South Bank Centre David Sefton, who founded London’s famous Meltdown Festival in 1993, is launching his first new event since then – he says “The idea is to bring something new to the festival landscape that is genuinely original.” Digging below the surface of the industry for the more untapped and enigmatic acts is at the heart of the project: “There are many great independent events in the UK, but all to an extent are tied into a ‘next big thing’ pattern. However, there are so many extraordinary artists out there who are as unique and exciting as the day they started, whether six months ago or forty years ago. Shadowlands is all about them.”
The major draw on next year’s bill looks to be the exclusive return of Foetus, brainchild of Australian avant-garde creative JG Thirlwell. After releasing his first album since 2013 with this year’s ‘Halt’, Thirlwell is playing his first UK date in over 25 years, and only his second-ever orchestral one at Shadowlands. He will be accompanied by what he has dubbed the “Foetus Orchestra”, which features strings, woodwind, and brass sections, as well as a harp, guitar, bass and drums.
Another exciting act is Welsh industrial pioneer Brian Williams, AKA Lustmord. Known for his collaborations with members of experimental US acts Tool and Melvins, as well as his unique video game scores, Lustmord will bring something unnervingly dark to proceedings. Other highlights from the first wave of acts include influential London industrial group Test Dept, plus the return of post-punk supergroup Githead after a 13-year hiatus.
The latest drop of 16 new acts to round out the bill came last week on September 10. Southend-on-Sea’s These New Puritans bring their genre-spanning sound, American duo Matmos will be there with their unpredictable electronic arsenal of samples as well as spin-off project The Soft Pink Truth, and Sheffield industrial funk band Hula are reforming for their first live show in nearly 40 years. JG Thirlwell has also confirmed another solo set across the festival, where he will revisit the score he wrote for Harry Smith’s 1962 cult classic film Heaven and Earth Magic.
So what else can you expect from Shadowlands? As co-founder David Sefton asks and answers, “Ultimately, it’s really about asking the question: “what is the most exciting line-up of the most adventurous music ever made?” And then booking it.” Alongside 35 huge acts, Shadowlands is set to hold talks, panel discussions, Q&As and a film programme across four days and 3 stages on the University of Kent campus and it’s Gulbenkian Arts Centre. Tickets are on sale now for £280 for all 4 days, with accommodation also available to book on-site at the university. The first ever Shadowlands festival arrives in Canterbury July 1-4 2027.
