It's that time of year again, Australia! The 2018 Splendour In The Grass line-up has dropped and eye-wateringly huge. With a gobsmacking 101 artists set to descend upon Byron Bay Parklands in July, we here at The Music thought you should get familiar with your festival fam. So, without further adieu, here's what you need to know about your 2018 SITG artists — part one.
kendrick Lamar
Kendrick's last trip Down Under was way back in 2016 for Bluesfest, so he's well overdue for an Aussie visit. He's been deep in the DAMN. world tour which means Splendy punters can expect an explosive set based on the critically acclaimed 2017 LP.
vampire weekend
Arguably the wildcard of the 2018 line-up, the band has been pretty quiet following 2013's beloved Modern Vampires Of The City. But with a new album in the pipeline that's "80% done", expect to hear some new stuff when they touch down in July.
khalid
This 20-year-old has BLOWN UP in the last 12 months thanks to his Platinum selling 2017 debut American Teen. The Texan's 2017 Australian tour was so popular that a second Sydney show was added and both the Melbourne and Brisbane shows were upgraded. He also landed two tracks into the Hottest 100 with megahit Location making it to #13. This will be his only Australian performance this year, so make it count.
the wombats
The UK lads are coming back for their third Splendour performance after popping over in 2008 and 2015. Expect to hear a bunch of gear off 2018's Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life and to lose your shit to their festival classic, Let's Dance To Joy Division.
hilltop hoods
These festival favourites have been pretty underground since they wrapped up touring for their 2014 album Walking Under Stars in 2016. Whatever they pull out for their Splendour set, it's sure to go off like a frog in a sock.
miguel
Another Aussie exclusive, the Los Angeles R&B master is only giving punters one shot in 2018 to see him slam through tracks from his luscious 2017 album War & Leisure.
girl talk
Yet another Splendour exclusive act, this US DJ hasn't dropped any new music since 2014 but has been popping up on festival line-up's all over the States lately. A sure-bet for a late-night boogie.
angus & julia stone
Following a couple years focusing on solo projects, the brother-singer duo enjoyed a reunion last year on latest album Snow. Two songs from the LP made appearances on this year's hottest 100 and landed them a lovely sunset performance at Falls Festival over New Years.
gang of youths
There is no stopping Gang Of Youths. The landed a massive four songs from their ARIA-nominated album Go Further In Lightness in the Hottest 100 and have most recently been dominating the US with performances at SXSW in Texas and on Late Night With Seth Meyers.
MGMt
The electro duo gave The Music a sly tip-off that they'd be coming to Australia in 2018 and they have delivered beautifully. Another act that's back on the scene after a five-year break, the boys dropped their latest album Little Dark Age earlier in the year.
ben howard
This UK singer-songwriter will wrap up a mammoth European tour a couple weeks before his Splendour appearance. His third album Noonday Dream is slated for release on 1 June.
ben harper & Charlie Musselwhite
Soul singer Ben Harper and blues harmonica legend Charlie Musselwhite have been collaborating since their 2013 Grammy Award-winning album Get Up! They'll be pulling out tracks from the LP as well as their latest cut, No Mercy In This Land.
pnau
A delightful line-up addition for anyone that likes to dance, the trio have been flying high off their 2017 album Changa — their first release in six years.
james bay
Bay has ditched the long locks and floppy hat of his Hold Back The River days in preparation for his upcoming second album Electric Light, which is due to drop 18 May.
the avalanches (dj set)
The elusive collective have been busy making their mark nationally and internationally, following on from 2016 comeback record Wildflowers. They made their festival return back at Splendour '16 so it's safe to say they'll have something big planned for their DJ set.
chromeo
Photo by Tim Saccenti
The Canadian funk duo have been hyping their upcoming fourth record Head Over Heels for quite some time, revealing the 15 June release date just a couple of days ago.
dma's
DMA's are just about to embark on a huge UK tour on the back of their highly-anticipated second album For Now, which fans will be able to get their hands on come 27 April.
Ball park music
The Brisso band put a smile on everyone's dial last year with their latest album GOOD MOOD. After extensive national touring on the back of the LP, the gang are ponying up for their first Splendour since 2016.
safia
The Canberra trio released single Cellophane Rainbow late last year but have been relatively cagey with the album deets. There's no place like Splendour to make big announcements.
the jungle giants
The Brisbane four-piece pulled off a totally new sound with their 2017 cut Quiet Ferocity, going on to match Kendrick Lamar and Lorde with four songs from the LP making their way into the Hottest 100. They are in the midst of a huge Australian album tour.
lil xan
The 22-year-old rapper released his debut LP Total Xanarchy just last week (6 April) and, according to Billboard, sold out his first US album tour in five hours. Splendour will mark the first time that Lil Xan has performed in Australia.
read more:
- The Splendour In The Grass 2018 Line-up Is Here!
- Here Are The Day-by-day Line-ups For Splendour In The Grass 2018
- Your Complete Rundown Of The Splendour 2018 Line-up: Part Two
methyl ethel
This Perth band has gone from strength to strength over the last 12 months on the back of their 2017 record Everything Is Forgotten, selling out their a 2017 London show in under 24 hours.
Amy shark
The Gold Coast singer has had possibly the best two years that any aspiring artist could hope for. She picked up two ARIA Awards last year for her EP Night Thinker and recently slayed a spot on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
the bronx
LA punk band The Bronx will bring some high-octane energy to SITG 2018 from their latest album, 2017's V.
ocean alley
The Sydney outfit had a ripper 2017, dropping their first album Lost Tropics and embarking on an inaugural tour of Europe and the UK. They quickly followed it up with 2018 LP Chiaroscuro and are currently in the middle of a huge national headline tour inbetween their Groovin' The Moo appearances.
carmada by L d r u & yahtzel
Aussie producers LDRU and Yahtzel teamed up back in 2014 to create Carmada, releasing the Realise EP. Since then the only new track on their SoundCloud is a remix of Fat Boy Slim's Right Here, Right Now, which was posted two months ago. Whatever the duo pulls out at Splendour, you can bet it's gonna slap.
dz deathrays
Bloody Lovely, the duo's follow up to 2014's ARIA-Award winning LP Black Rat, has been going gangbusters since it's release earlier in the year with single Shred For Summer placing at a respectable #67 on the Hottest 100.
lord huron
If you're wondering where you might have heard US folk outfit Lord Huron, they enjoyed a spike in notoriety last year after their song The Night We Met was featured in the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why. The band's third album, Vide Noir is slated to drop 20 April.
middle kids
Sydney's Middle kids rocked 2017 on the back of their self-titled EP, now the trio is gearing up for the release of their debut album Lost Friends at the beginning of May.
Hockey Dad
Photo by Kane Hibbard
Surf rockers Hockey Dad made history earlier in the year with their 2018 album Blend Inn, becoming the first band from Windang, NSW to crack the top ten on the ARIA Albums chart.
towkio
This Chicago rapper went to great heights to release his debut record WWW — literally, the artist went 28,216 meters up in a helium balloon just so he could say that he released the album from space. Expect one out-of-this-world Splendy set.
cub sport
Brisbane's Cub Sport have taken over the world with their third LP BATS and are currently at the beginning of a gigantic album tour that will take them all over the US, UK and Europe.
sampa the great
The Zambian-born artist just picked up the revered Australian Music Prize for her record Birds & The BEE9, bagging herself a slick $30,000 in the process.
touch sensitive
Photo by Cybele Malinowski
The Aussie producer capped off a lengthy tour over the summer in support of his debut album Visions.
dean lewis
Another Aussie that has been tearing it up in the US, Lewis has been consistently touring around Australia and the world on the back of his 2017 EP Same Kind Of Different.
skegss
Byron Bay trio Skegss add some local flavour into the line-up, most recently completing a huge regional tour on the back of their latest EP Holiday Food.
albert hammond jr.
The US guitarist extraordinaire and member of The Strokes will make his way Down Under to celebrate his fourth solo album Francis Trouble, which dropped in March.
mallrat
Another Queenslander, the young hip hop star just slammed a gig in NYC and is prepping for a national tour in June in support of her EP In The Sky.
marmozets
The English rock band will bring all the goods from their latest album 2018's Knowing What You Know Now to Australia in July.
alex lahey
This Melbournite has come a long way in a short time, dropping her debut album I Love You Like A Brother and nabbing a spot on Late Night With Seth Meyers. She's currently doing shows round Australia on her Huge & True tour.
riton & Kah-lo
British DJ Riton and Nigerian singer-songwriter Kah-Lo combined forces for the 2016 track Rinse & Repeat, which scored them a 2017 Grammy nomination for Best Dance Recording. Now they're getting ready to bring that power to SITG 2018.
Jack river
Singer-songwriter Jack River brought her Electric Lady concert series to the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games' Festival 18 and is anticipating her first full-length release Sugar Mountain in June.
superorganism
Although this international group only formed back in 2017, they've already made a huge impact with their infectious single Something For Your MIND from their self-titled debut album.
baker boy
The rapper from North East Arnhem Land has changed the game in Australia over the last 12 months, supporting the likes of 50 Cent and Dizzee Rascal. With only a handful of singles to his name, the country is fanging for his debut album.
stella donnelly
Photo by Evie Mackay
This Perth singer grabbed the world's attention with her flawless debut EP Thrush Metal. After owning SXSW in March, Stella returned to Aus to embark on a joint tour with fellow SITG act, Alex The Astronaut.
waax
Photo by Ian Laidlaw
From humble beginnings on the streets of Brisbane, WAAX have worked hard to become one of Australia's most promising punk-rock outfits. Their excellent Wild & Weak EP had them supporting Fall Out Boy on their 2018 Australian tour.
Comments