Boardmasters has dubbed Sam Fender one of the most-requested artists ever for the festival, and his appearance has been a topic of rampant speculation among fans. Joining other headlining acts Stormzy, Chase & Status, and Becky Hill, Fender is poised to fill the Saturday night headline slot.

This marks Fender’s third appearance at Boardmasters, a festival he first graced in 2014 at just 19 years old, playing on The View stage. Reflecting on his humble beginnings, Fender shared on social media, “I played in a little trailer, tiny stage at the bottom. It was almost off the cliff edge. I played Boardmasters more than any other festival, and now I’m going to headline it.”

The announcement comes hot on the heels of Fender’s collaboration with Noah Kahan on the single ‘Homesick’ and the release of his soulful track ‘Iris’ from the Jackdaw soundtrack. With his 2021 album ‘Seventeen Going Under’ still making waves, fans eagerly anticipate news about his third album.

Fender’s rise to headliner status is a testament to his skyrocketing success, marked by sell-out stadium shows, acclaim at major festivals across the UK and Europe, and two BRIT awards along with an Ivor Novello award. His 2021 release built upon the breakthrough success of his debut album, ‘Hypersonic Missiles,’ solidifying his status as one of Britain’s most celebrated musicians.

Newly joining Fender on the diverse Boardmasters 2024 lineup are other notable acts such as Courteeners, celebrating 15 years since their debut album ‘St. Jude,’ Declan McKenna with new album ‘What Happened to the Beach?’ on the horizon, electronic music duo Overmono, ‘Foundations’ vocalist Kate Nash, Cornwall’s own Wunderhorse, Irish indie rockers NewDad, and Scottish singer-songwriter Calum Bowie.

In addition to its stellar musical lineup, Boardmasters offers a plethora of activities and events, including surfing competitions, skateboarding exhibitions, and immersive art installations. With pre-sale tickets already available, fans are urged to secure their spots early. Last year’s sold out edition featured headliners Lorde, Liam Gallagher, and Florence + The Machine, drawing a crowd of 150,000 festival attendees.

With Sam Fender at the helm as the final headliner, Boardmasters 2024 promises to be “five sun-drenched days of surf, sounds & soul”, with a mix of established and emerging talents gracing the stages. From surf competitions to diverse music acts, the festival offers something for everyone. Secure your tickets here to ensure you don’t miss out on the excitement.

Although Orbison hasn’t produced anything with Doldrums Recordings since 2010, his second startup, Hingefinger, has seen more activity. Hingefinger, was a joint venture between O’Grady and DJ/designer Will Bankhead. Under Hingefinger, Joy Orbison released ‘Ellipsis’ in 2012. Since Orbison’s early days, Hingefinger has turned dormant, with Bankhead focusing on his music and fashion label Trilogy Tapes, and Joy Orbison focusing on his making, rather than publishing, music.

Orbison kept a relatively low profile online, often dropping some of his tracks on exclusively physical formats. However, over the last few years, the producer has released a steady stream of work online. Last year, he released ‘Freedom 2’ with Peckham rapper Kwengface and electronic music duo Overmono. This was part of a continued collaboration between Overmono’s Tom and Ed Russell and Joy Orbison. The three artists have been collaborating since 2019 on dance tracks, predominantly, under the label XL Recordings.

Making a return to XL Recordings, Orbison took to Instagram to announce the release of ‘Flight FM’. The track marks a divergence from Orbison’s usual upbeat dance tracks, moving in a more subdued and droning direction. Speaking on Instagram, Orbison said: “I’m always wary of playing new ideas cos you run the risk of completely losing faith in it before you really make sense of it. But luckily it went down well which spurred me on to finish it”. The track’s name is in reference to a pirate radio station that Orbison tuned into as a child. Established in 1998, Flight FM permeated south London’s airwaves with underground dance music until 2008. Since its physical end, Flight FM has moved with the times and has found a space online. However, the station’s twitter hasn’t seen activity since February of 2018, making Orbison’s track a call back to a now-dead age in music.

As of today, ‘Flight FM’ can be found on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music.

pic.twitter.com/bA6LVFCRMd

— XL RECORDINGS (@XLRECORDINGS) January 1, 2024

Burial’s most recent release, Infirmary/Unknown Summer was in collaboration with Steve Goodman, also known as Kode9. The 2023 EP takes a more ambient approach, featuring spoken word sections, laid-back beats, and pitch-shifted vocals. In comparison, the new work teased by XL Recordings is aggressive, noisy, and raw. The clips feature distinctly different sounds from the ones produced with Kode9. This tonal shift may explain the change in label, a step away from the relaxed 2023 EP. Although the South London producer is currently signed to Hyperdub Records, owned by Kode9, Burial has worked with XL in the past. 

In 2020, Burial teamed up with XL, Kieran Hebden, better known as Four Tet, and Thom Yorke on two tracks titled ‘Her Revolution’ and ‘His Rope’. Since XL Recordings hosts a wide range of electronic producers, it is not out of the question that we may be getting another collaboration from Burial and another XL signed artist. Some of the major producers currently signed to XL Recordings are Overmono, a Welsh duo made up of Ed and Tom Russell, and Peggy Gou, a South Korean DJ and producer whose real name is Kim Min-ji. A potential collaboration between Overmono and Burial may seem more likely than some would think, with the glitchy aesthetic of both teaser videos matching that of the Overmono brand. 

We can speculate all day but all we currently know is that Burial is working on something new with XL Recordings. 

Sharing the announcement on social media, the duo wrote in their Instagram caption they were, “gassed to announce this run”, and, “unbelievably excited to be playing a bunch of cities close to our hearts as well as visiting some places we’ve never played before”.

The Russell brothers will be kicking off their tour at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado in mid-September. They’ll be stopping off at venues around the US before heading to the UK and Europe in October.

The duo will start their European dates off in Dublin playing Vicar Street on the 6^th October. They will then play the O2 Academy in Bristol on the 12^th October and the independent warehouse venue SWG3 Galvanizers in Glasgow on 13^th October. They will then tour around Europe before finishing their tour at The Roundhouse in London on the 25^th October. For tickets see here.

Fans of the breakbeat act can catch their set at one of the many UK and Europe festivals they have lined up over the summer including Gala23’, Love Saves the Day, Primavera Sound, AVA Festival, Lost Village, End of the Road, and at Parklife for the second year in a row. Last year the duo played Wide Awake Festival, the independent festival that showcases new and unique acts.

Before Overmono, the brothers from Monmouth had solo careers in music with Tom making industrial techno under the moniker Truss and his younger brother Ed making dubstep under the name Tessela. In 2015, the two paired up spending a couple of weeks in a cottage making music together.

Good Lies, Overmono’s debut album, was released on the 12^th May. Lush, atmospheric, and spacey the brothers combine cold breakbeats with echoey sampled vocals on the thirteen tracks to create ambient dance music that will please festival crowds.

Talking to The Fader this week, the brothers mused on the direction of dance music towards the sentimental. “The music we’re drawn to the most is music that you could listen to, depending on how you’re feeling that day, you could hear the same song in a different way”, Ed articulated. “That’s something we’re not consciously aiming for in the studio, but over the years of making music, we’ve realized it’s what we’re always gravitating towards: that in-between state of emotions when you’re not sure if you’re laughing or crying or both at the same time.”

Listen to “So U Kno” below:

See below for all Overmono’s upcoming UK and Europe dates:

26/05/23 – Gala23’ – London
27/05 – Love Saves the Day – Bristol
01/06 – Primavera Sound – Barcelona
02/06 – AVA Festival – Belfast
08/06 – Primavera Sound – Arganda del Rey
10/06 – Parklife – Manchester
16/06 – Maifeld – Mannheim
25/06 – Hideout Festival – Novalji
30/06 – Montreux Jazz Festival – Montreux
12/07 – Dour Festival – Dour
04/08 – Paradies Garten Festival – Bruck an der Leitha
04/08 – All Together Now – Portlaw
24/08 – Lost Village – Lincoln
31/08 – End of the Road – Sixpenny Handley
31/08 – INOTA – Várpalota
06/10 – Vicar Street – Dublin
12/10 – O2 Academy – Bristol
13/10 – SWG3 Galvanizers – Glasgow
18/10 – La Cabaret Sauvage – Paris
19/10 – Paradiso – Amsterdam
20/10 – AB – Brussels
21/10 – Astra Kulturhaus – Berlin
22/10 – Mojo Club – Hamburg
25/10 – The Roundhouse – London