Speaking with NME, the duo (Andrew Ferguson and Matthew McBriar) explained their creative process and how ‘Water’ came to be. “Whatever we demo with, is almost never what we finish with,” McBriar said.“There was no outright idea when we started, but the original ‘Waterfall’ was born out of experimentation with an instrument called the MEGAfm,” they said, “It’s a new synth but has chips inside which formed the sounds of the SEGA Megadrive/Genesis games consoles. Weirdly it got more computer game sounding when we developed it into ‘Water’, speeding up and slowing down the lead line and LFOs to give that classic low-bit sound effect.” 

The pair have once again teamed up with Clara La San features on Isles tracks ‘Saku’ and ‘X’. “I just feel like Clara nails a little bit of every single one of them without being too much. She’s not too sugary, she’s not too lamenting, it’s sort of everything in between,” McBriar said. “Clara’s a machine, she’s honestly insane. It’s hard to believe that we get vocals from her sometimes and I’m like, ‘How was this not a year of hard work back and forth?’ She just sometimes sends it over and I’m like, ‘That’s perfect’.”

Despite this new single release, the pair don’t want fans to get too excited about a third album coming so soon. Ferguson has said that they are enjoying being more “fluid” with their production, outside of the structure of an album and McBriar echoed his comments saying: “Having done two [albums], it’s been amazing but we really craved that freedom of smaller bits of work.” “We want to spend a few years experimenting, changing up a lot, doing a lot of singles, and we’d like to be a bit more adventurous with some of the sound palettes and the layouts, and thinking about stuff a bit more abstract, and then inform that into a new album”

Bicep are heading off to Europe for an arena tour this month, stopping in the UK for two shows at London’s Alexandra Palace in early December. Both dates are sold out.

Upcoming UK Shows:

02/12/22 – Alexandra Palace – London
03/12 – Alexandra Palace London

WIDE AWAKE 2022 ANNOUNCEMENT

We’re expanding to two days! ⁰@ScreamOfficial headline Sat May 28, playing Screamadelica in full live for the first time in a decade, with @feelmybicep headlining Fri May 27!

SNAP UP TICKETS NOW https://t.co/hBAurFOxS5 pic.twitter.com/XO6VUkJvnk

— Wide Awake (@wideawakeldn) December 7, 2021

The festival has now expanded to two days, as opposed to the inaurgural one-day fixture from last years iteration. Bicep are set to be the headline act for the Friday night, with Primal Scream closing the Saturday, treating us with a perfomance of their iconic Screamadelica in full.

Wide Awake boasts a musically diverse lineup, spanning genres with artists including Caribou, Leon Vynehall, Fat White Family, Connan Mockasin, The Comet is Coming, and Kevin Morby. Organised by the co-founders of Field Day, Wide Awake maintains the same ethos of musical diversity, appealing to fans from across the spectrum. Last years iteration, however, was more rock oriented, with acts such as IDLES and Goat Girl.

In a four-star review of last years event, NME wrote: “Though the music at Wide Awake largely skew towards the recent trend of bands with sardonic, sprechgesang vocals and wiry guitars, there are some welcome – and necessary – detours across the day’s programme.” 

The progressively-minded festival stresses the importance of environment consciousness and gender equality. On their website, they write: “We strive to have an equitable gender split across our line-up and 2022 will see the continuation of our ‘Positive Policy’, set up to help change the way in which live music events take responsibility for actions towards our planet.”

In tandem with this social interest, they are additionally adopting a Positive Policy which debuted at last years festival. “The positive policy aims to build action, change and partnerships in climate, carbon, local causes and air pollution. The Positive Policy debuted at the 2021 festival created positive actions in an effort to help our ecosystem and change the way in which live music events take responsibility for actions towards our planet.”

The set of ground rules for the Positive Policy are as follows:

• Bury zero waste in landfill
• Leave no trace of litter
• Ban single use plastic across the site
• Only use compostable plastic and cutlery
• Only provide ethically sourced food
• Operate a cup deposit scheme that doesn’t rip fans off
• Recycle all trader & back of house waste
• Only permit biodegradable stage effects
• Eco-toilets
• HVO Fuel

+ much more

Tickets are starting at £39.50 and can be purchased here.

The festival will host a mixture of Irish and international stars. Belfast-born duo BICEP, which consists of musicians Matt McBriar and Andy Ferguson, will be making an appearance, having recently released their acclaimed hit album Isles in January which made #2 in the Official UK Albums Charts. The pair seems especially ready to get festival-goers rocking after their other enthusiastic gigs in the likes of Glastonbury, Coachella and Primavery.

Other artists returning to their homeland include Gemma Dunleavy, Malaki and Kojaque, all from Dublin. English synthpop group Hot Chip will also be making this their first Irish gig since 2013. However, the festival has names from all over the world coming along, with the likes of Australian electronic group The Avalanches, American rapper Princess Nokia, Australian singer Chet Faker, South Korean DJ Peggy Gou and more, with many others just waiting to be announced. For more names, you can see this post from their Instagram here.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Forbidden Fruit Festival (@forbiddenfruitfestival)

However, the buck doesn’t stop there, with international New Zealand songwriter Lorde making her debut Irish performance. Famous for her record-breaking 2013 single “Royals”, the singer is hot off her latest album release, Solar Power, back in August, as well as two new songs from earlier this month (“Hold No Grudge” and “Helen of Troy”). Having sold over 12 million albums and over 10 billion streams, it seems safe to say festival enthusiasts might have a good incentive to pick up some tickets here.

For those interested, tickets will be on general sale from 8 am GMT on December 2^nd, costing €129.50, and can be gotten here. For those a bit strapped for cash at the moment, instalments will be permissible, with €35 payments spread across four intervals (on first purchase, in February, March and finally in April). However, the festival is a no-go for under-18s, so make sure you’re of age first before trying to get yourself some tickets.

Your Wilderness 2021 line up is here. Join @jamie___xx, @LoyleCarner, @Rudimental, @feelmybicep (Live) & more for the unforgettable summer weekend you’ve all been waiting for.

Final release bookings open Tuesday 8th June.

Join the waitlist: https://t.co/zCesoIFT5c pic.twitter.com/ewacmbhojq

— Wilderness Festival (@WildernessHQ) June 3, 2021

Traditionally, the Wilderness festival is not only about music, but also arts, the natural world and celebration of the adventure. The Theatre and Arts programme includes Wilderness Orchestra, Letters Live, Roundhouse and Woman in Jazz.
Author Phili Pullman will chat with John Lloyd as part of the Talks and Debates programme. You can also expect a wood-fired lakeside spa, Yoga, disco dodgeball and an amazing selection of food to choose from.  from including vegetarian and vegan feast.

General ticket for Wilderness have already sold out however small number of tickers will be released on the 8th of June to those on the waiting list. To have a chance of grabbing one, sign up here.

For this year’s #6MusicFestival we’re bringing you 9 brand new performances recorded at Alexandra Palace and BBC Radio Theatre alongside some of our favourite archive performances from previous years.

26th-28th March.

Watch on @BBCiPlayer and listen on @BBCSounds. pic.twitter.com/QunY9Ib55e

— BBC Radio 6 Music (@BBC6Music) March 12, 2021

The festival will take place virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and will be available on BBC Sounds and BBC iPlayer, with select performances being aired on 6 Music. The new performances were filmed at Alexandra Palace and the BBC Radio Theatre in BBC Broadcasting House, adhering to social distancing guidelines. 

Kiwanuka said about the upcoming festival: “It feels great to be playing the 6 Music Festival this year, especially because I missed last year – I was so sad and gutted not to perform. This year is a special year because there are very few opportunities to get to play live, with the situation we’re in in the world. So it’s great to be able to express myself the way I know how and with the 6 Music family. It means a lot.” 

Head of BBC Radio 6 Music Samantha Moy added: “With venues closed across the UK, we are determined to celebrate live music, as we know 6 Music listeners are missing gigs as much as we are. So we’ve raided the 6 Music Festival archives and moved heaven and earth to record some new performances, to ensure that the festival will go on!” 

There will also be a special programme aired on BBC 4 on Friday 26th March at 11pm, airing clips from the headline performances of Kiwanuka, Marling and Bicep. The show will also feature an interview of Kiwanuka from Radio 6 presenter and singer Cerys Matthews. 

Check out all the info here!