poppedmusic

CloseUp Festival 2022

Colours, Hoxton, 20-22 May 2022

Words by Daniel Burton

It’s Festival Season once more, and back in its regular slot in the calendar CloseUp Festival has returned bigger and better than ever – even boasting their first ever Sunday lineup.

This year CloseUp Festival as you would expect is bringing some of the best artists to London for 3 days of music, drinking & partying at Colours, Hoxton. It will be host to an array of artists from across the indie and electronic scenes with headliners Orchards, King No-One, & APRE. Alongside those headliners there are bands like Mantaraybryn and Havelock, a surprise act that is sure to get you excited when you find out, and a few more musical treats still to come. With prices starting from just £13.95, you’ll be hard pushed to find any gig, let alone a festival, that beats it for style, atmosphere and value for money.

Accompanying the headliners this year include; Havelock, Second Thoughts, Mantaraybryn,
Downtown Kayato, Cariss Auburn, Swim Deep (DJ), Make Friends, Castells, Car Park & More!

Orchards
Since first covering Orchards, whilst supporting Hippo Campus in 2018, we have seen them across the country (and the world…SXSW 2019) and they have remained a firm favourite of Popped Music. With their energetic stage presence and thunderous indie-rock style, they are undoubtedly a brilliant choice for a Friday night headliner and are sure to rock Colours to its foundations. Since their first single release in 2016, they have produced several EPs, including a number of acoustic and live sessions. Their most recent release Trust Issues has been belted out of the speakers in my house regularly over the last few months.

Bandit
Hailing from Liverpool, the four-piece Bandit have received widespread industry support from being named Jack Saunders’ New Wave and being included on Spotify’s Hot New Bands playlist, and it is certainly well deserved. Their outstanding track for me, hailed as a “soundtrack to summer” by Popped Music, is Ice Cream. With its upbeat and joyous yet raucous tone coupled with typical Britpop vibes, this track will win new fans at festivals all through this summer, and is sure to be one of the standout moments of the weekend. This is no one song band though as Bandit are able to draw upon the likes of Mean Streak, and Goonies (I Only Tolerate You) to entertain an audience. I can’t wait to be a part of it!

Mollie Coddled
If you’re looking for some downtime to relax from some of the upbeat sets across the weekend
then you need to make sure you are in the room for Mollie Coddled. With her groove-laden but
chilled vibe, she is going to get the entire room swaying from head to toe, but if you need a breather perhaps just close your eyes and sink deep into the peaceful energies Mollie creates. This bedroom artist, whose debut EP The Halo Effect was released in 2020, has a particular skill for combining jangly and dreamy guitar with some hazy synth and drum beats to create upbeat tracks. However give yourself the chance to listen to her lyrics as darkness can be disguised amongst the blue skies.

Get yourself a ticket for CloseUp Festival here.