The Glastonbury Festival has announced the eight finalists in their annual Emerging Talent Competition. It’s a strong lineup, as you’d expect with these eight coming from thousands of entries. This blog is particularly chuffed that one of our picks, the brilliant Frankie Beetlestone has made the final!
Good luck to Frankie and the other seven artists…listen below… who would you pick as your top three?
The finalists are:
Frankie Beetlestone
AJIMAL
Courting
HANNIE
Joshua Burnside
Kathleen Frances
Matilda Mann
R.A.E
It’s a shame, but understandable, that the live finals won’t take place this year as I’d have loved a trip to Pilton to watch but the usual team of judges will have the unenviable task of picking a winner.
Commiserations to Fought Process and Alice Auer, my two other picks, and the other 80 artists from the original longlist who fell just short of the final. It should be noted that The Slaves, who were one of my selections many many years ago, didn’t even make the final eight but have since headlined Glastonbury many times since so there are many routes to whatever constitutes success.
FRANKIE BEETLESTONE
“Inventive, witty and catchy as hell. A Sheffield teenager with lyrics that echo the charm of early Alex Turner while delighting in breaking the ‘third wall’ with ‘to camera’ asides and lovely idiosyncratic production touches.”
R.A.E
“This is fantastic – slightly uncanny, slightly creepy, really engaging.”
South London was something of a hotbed for UK HipHop in the late 80s/early 90s, and you have to imagine R.A.E (Rising Above Everything) perhaps drew some inspiration from the likes of Monie Love, Cookie Crew, She Rockers and Wee Papa Girl Rappers burning up the charts back then. She’s definitely got a 90’s American HipHop/RnB style but like the previously mentioned greats, very much has her own identity too.
KATHLEEN FRANCES
“A really captivating, haunting vocal. She manipulates her voice like an instrument.”
COURTING
“An enjoyable, explosive, rabble-rousing anthem that’s like an adrenalin shot to ears. It’s catchy, insistent and persistent.”
AJIMAL
“Truly beautiful, spellbinding work, sung exceptionally well.”
MATILDA MANN
“Loch Ness encourages the listener to make their interpretations throughout the sparse production. It’s full of smart writing from someone so young and you feel that Matilda has a lot more to say.”