The longlist for the 2025 Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition has been announced…
These acts will now be whittled down to a shortlist of eight who will compete at April’s live finals for a slot on one of the main stages at this year’s Glastonbury Festival. The winners of the competition will also be awarded £5,000 and two runners up £2,500 from the PRS for Music Foundation Talent Development prize.
These 90 have already made it from thousands of entries, but who would you pick to play Glastonbury??
The full list is available on the Glastonbury site or in the YouTube playlist below.
Good luck to the final 90, especially my own picks… Barbican, Kai Bosch and Ghuraba.
MUSIC LIKE DIRT SELECTIONS
BARBICAN – Greyscale/Heavy Water
Barbican’s heavy riffs had me nodding while I could almost feel the spittle on my face from the half growled post-punk poetry of the lyrics. There’s a hint of the IDLES social commentary, raging at both ‘people at the top who won’t condemn torture’ and those too soothed to take a stand.
KAI BOSCH – Funny
Bitter, playful and yes, funny. Kai Bosch’s anthem to the emotional tumult of breaking up was irresistible. It’s impossible not to sing along, as demonstrated live with Kai strutting down into the crowd and whipping them into such a frenzy they don’t know whether to sing, bounce or make sure it’s all recorded for their socials.
GHURABA – Golden Age
The hypnotic sounds of Ghuraba would transport a Glastonbury crowd to other worlds with their heady blend of African, middle eastern and Islamic music. They sent me down a wormhole in search of the ney flute, the daf drum and other percussive unknowns that raised the duo above the mass of pop and rock. Psychedelic electric guitar – with hints of Khruangbin – complete a sonic soup of cultural influences.
