George Dean
George Dean (he/they) is a freelance journalist focused on music and arts writing.
You can find them by using The Lanes in Brighton for a place to curl up with a book, or at a gig keeping a keen eye out for up-and-coming bands.
With Brighton’s Mutations Festival round the corner and a huge variety of sounds, we have picked 12 of our favorites
Since its conception in 2015, Mutations Festival has cultivated an array of courageous line-ups befitting the vibrancy of its host city Brighton.
Running between Tuesday 5th and Saturday 9th November, the avant-garde shindig celebrates the creatively radical across all shades of underground music, from folk to grime.
Here are twelve acts which CLUNK considers essential viewing.
KNEECAP
Heralded by Fontaines DC frontman Grian Chatten As “one of the best fucking bands in the world”, the Belfast trio have trailblazed a revival of the Irish language through political hip-hop. Disrupting the musical landscape through their subversive lyricism, Kneecap redirect the energies of boisterous, drug-fueled laddishness towards progressive political motives.
The raucous beats of DJ Próvaí marry with the deadly vocal concoction of MCs Mo Chara and Móglaí Bap, composed of frequently obscene wit alongside insightful socio-political commentary. Expect mosh pits and revolutionary rhetoric galore as Kneecap shutdown Mutations on Saturday.
SPRINTS
Franz Ferdinand lead singer Alex Kapranos has remarked that Sprints satisfy people’s “desire for the rawness and depth you can only get from a band”. The Dublin quartet have become a vital touchpoint of the city’s budding post-punk scene.
Sprints have maximized the rapacious potentialities of garage-punk. Their intensity is liberating; relentless guitar sections and battered drums back the unrestrained sprechgesang of frontwoman Karla Chubb, whose compelling lyricism specializes in female empowerment and mental health.
Chubb and his cohort kick off Mutations on Tuesday 5thnot only headlining but themselves curating the lineup for the opening day. The festival offers a prime opportunity to flex new single’Feast‘released in late September, which evokes fellow punk band Amyl and The Sniffers.
CHANEL BEADS
Chanel Beads is the alias of New York’s experimental and forward-thinking producer Shane Levers. 2024 is Levers’ for the taking: having released genre-melting debut album’Your Day Will Come‘ in April he has since toured with Mount Kimbie across the United States.
Backed by synths and shoegaze guitars, Chanel Beads’ Unpredictable electronic landscape will transport its listeners to space.
OSCAR #WORLDPEACE
Mentored and co-signed by Mike Skinner (The Streets), Tottenham-hailing Oscar #WorldPeace offers melodic rap sleekly blended with R&B elements. Oscar’s base of appeal is founded on thoughtfulness; unhurried instrumental backing accompanies his mellow voice, which expresses matters of personal development and overcoming adversity.
Oscar has proclaimed 2024 album ‘Mum, Pray for Your Son‘his “most personal work to date”. His appearance at Mutations promises to be intimate and thought-provoking.
VLURE
Glaswegian collective Vlure fuse hardcore dance with industrial post-punk to sinister effect. Constructing club-ready yet cutting-edge tracks, Vlure pulsate with affirmative chaos and supernatural machinery as they uncover the uncharted spaces of the self. Prepare to sweat with euphoria and fear.
WHITELANDS
Having had their profile raised through touring with shoegaze behemoths SlowdiveLondon-based Whitelands are one of the most exciting British bands to have emerged from the contemporary shoegaze revival – their shy and soft demeanour is undoubtedly befitting the title of the genre.
catch Whitelands to plunge into drenching guitars complemented by lead vocalist Etienne Quartey-Papafio’s signature gentle delivery.
HORSE JUMPER OF LOVE
Drifting in the debris and mumbles of self-loathing melancholia, Boston-based Horse Jumper of Love are amongst the finest that slowcore has to offer. The band’s lyrical matter sees them in dejection, while their foggy soundscape is informed by flirtations with slacker rock and shoegaze. Mutations lands half-way through the band’s expedition of the UK and Europe.
ENOLA GAY
The Belfast four-piece operate within an existential wilderness; hip-hop vocal delivery is overlaid onto a sonic background of noise-punk to electrifying effect. Band members Fionn Reilly and Joe McVeigh met at a Chemical Brothers gig, which can be heard in the band’s rhythmic structure with touchpoints in obscure electronica and techno.
BABEHOVEN
Babehoven arise from Hudson, NY to cast acoustic feathers upon their surroundings.
The folk duo have illuminated that the title of their latest LP ‘Water’s Here In You‘ represents the notion: “Even in the midst of the fires of life, we can find the water within ourselves and within each other to cool us down, to refresh us, to carry on.”.
Babehoven infuses listeners with aromas of juniper and a gulp of crisp air from a mystical pastoral haven. We are clasped in relief embrace. Worthy viewing for fans of Adrianne Lenker, Big Thief and Pinegrove.
ADULT DVD
Erratic dance-rock masters Adult DVD emanate convivial grooves and wry vocals. contemporary leeds Fuzz Lightyear are among Adult DVD’s advocates, describing them as “indie kids doing dance music better than anyone else.”
Although their soundscape is not especially similar to LCD Soundsystemthey may well have taken good notes on how to successfully combine electronic with rock music.
JUNE MCDOOM
June McDoom whispers bewitchingly, as her lyricism juxtaposes human disconnection against a cherished connection with nature. The New York-based singer-songwriter operates in the vein of experimental folk through harnessing vintage analogue mechanisms.
June’s discography is amassed with delicately crafted bedtime lullabies, her surreal creative vision informed by a reverence for the moon at the still of night.
VAN ZON
We end with CLUNK’s most leftfield choice for this list with a quintet who call Brighton home. The full capabilities of Van Zon are, as of yet, elusive, but their only single release ‘Cannon Fodder’basked in the light of medievalist aesthetics and motifs, leaves us absurd for more.
In this track, Van Zon fuse post-rock, minimalist classical, and folk sounds in a comparable vein to caroline and Black Country, New Road. Seeing it live has the potential to be a religious performance.
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