Known for its boundary-pushing line-ups and warm community feel, Birmingham-based festival Supersonic returns from 29 August to 1 September with a programme of metal, hip-hop, folk, and everything in between. Artists range from aya to Rich(ard) Dawson, with performances, workshops and even a pub quiz to enjoy over the long weekend. Have a read of the full line-up here, and read on for tQ’s picks.
Aunty Rayzor
Supersonic has a truly global outlook, putting on trailblazing artists from every corner of the world, not just the English-speaking minority. One of the most exciting international acts at this year’s festival is Aunty Rayzor, a Nigerian rapper with a punk outlook who has collaborated with the likes of Debmaster and DRE-A. Her shows are high-energy and fast-moving, switching from pop to afrobeat to hip-hop – check out her breakthrough Viral Wreckage above for a taste.
HIRS Collective
Fresh from a UK tour with Chat Pile, Philly-based queercore crew HIRS Collective are a must-see at Supersonic – if only because of how unpredictable their sets are. A fluid collective based on anarchist and radical transfeminist principles, HIRS have an undefined line-up and an anything-goes sonic ethos, blending pop samples with powerviolence. They’ve also got a fair amount of material to draw from, with over 50 releases under their belts since forming in 2011 – start with 2023’s We’re Still Here, which features contributions from the likes of Melt-Banana, Geoff Rickly and Soul Glo.
Water Damage
Another fluid collective to check out is Water Damage, an Austin-based supergroup featuring veterans of Black Eyes, Swans and Spray Paint. Like Moin – who also play Supersonic on Friday night – Water Damage deal in ultra-deconstructed rock music, drilling down riffs and motorik beats to their essence, with the motto of “Maximal Repetition, Minimal Deviation”. Watch out for Mari Maurice Rubio aka more eaze, who adds a John Cale-like flair on violin.
Backxwash
In 2023, Supersonic brought Zambian-Canadian rapper Backxwash to Birmingham for her first ever UK performance – an unforgettable midnight set of industrial beats and maverick charisma, with a heaviness to rival Godflesh, who played the same night. She’s heading back to Digbeth this year, and if her recent acclaimed album Only Dust Remains is anything to go by, her performance is set to be equally intense and reflective. Stylistically, expect less metal, more hip-hop – “at the end of the day, I’m still a rapper” she told tQ in an interview in May.
Buñuel
2025 sees the return of another Supersonic veteran: musician, author, MMA fighter and punk raconteur Eugene S. Robinson, latterly of Oxbow and Whipping Boy, and currently heading up avant-garde noiseniks Buñuel. Appropriately for a band named after the Surrealist filmmaker, Buñuel are confrontational art-rock, dishing out cheap thrills and sexually charged drama. Like anything involving Robinson, there’s no such thing as a passive audience member – you’ve been warned.
Meatdripper
“Ladies and they-dies of doom” Meatdripper only formed last year, but the two singles the Birmingham four-piece have released so far promise a mix of metal, noise and psych rock fitting for a band from the birthplace of metal. Heavy drums, sick riffs, proggy structures and creepy vocals – if you’re looking for the legacy of Black Sabbath, look no further.
Karl D’Silva
Forget brat, Rotherham-based multi-instrumentalist Karl D’Silva’s Love Is A Flame In The Dark was the greatest pop album of 2024. Live, D’Silva conjures songwriting genius from little more than a laptop, a guitar and his singular raspy voice – like a Depeche Mode stadium gig folded into a suitcase. Don’t miss the chance to see him on the Supersonic rooftop on Saturday.
Penelope Trappes
Fans of This Mortal Coil and Julee Cruise will find a fitting addition to the ethereal pop canon in Penelope Trappes, an Australian vocalist and producer whose fifth album A Requiem, released in April, might be her best yet. Trappes’ performances are as spellbinding as her recordings, and her recent experimentations with meditative states and magic promise a particularly otherworldly set.
Morgiana screening + workshop
From Penelope Trappes to black metallers Witch Club Satan, there’s plenty of acts on this year’s line-up bringing gothic drama – so what better than an actual gothic drama to complement the music? Presented in collaboration with pop culture event producers Whatever Pays The Rent, this special screening is a chance to see Morgiana, a lost classic from the Czech New Wave featuring murderous sisters, baroque mansions and black lace gowns. Turn up before the film starts to take part in a workshop with artist and Supersonic legend Bunny Bissoux, who will help you construct a handmade shrine to your horror goddess of choice.
Funeral Folk
Supersonic loves weirdo folk music, so much so that it’s shocking they’ve never programmed a project called ‘Funeral Folk’ before. The evocatively-titled duo comprises violinist Sara Parkman and composer Maria W Horn, two long-time friends drawing from the musical traditions of their Swedish home – from Scandanavian lamentation to black metal – to craft a new kind of folk music rooted in the rituals of grief and death. Accompanied by drone artist and fellow Swede Mats Erlandsson, this will be the duo’s first UK performance, and what better setting for it?
