ISA DESMET & UTHER SMIS (BE)
A duo that lovingly drags old English ballads and poetry through the mud and patches them up again. Vocals, harmonium, violin, and a handful of quirky electronics. Folk that didn’t realize it was supposed to stay acoustic - sometimes sweet, sometimes with a cursed aftertaste. Danceable? Probably not.

BRÌGHDE CHAIMBEUL (UK) 
"Arresting, hypnotic compositions...with dissonance often stuttering next to moments of deep beauty. Both of its time and out of time", wrote The Guardian of Brìghde Chaimbeul (pronounced: Bree-chu Chaym-bul)’s sound. The Scot’s debut was an instant hit. In 2019,The Reeling landed in the year-end charts of prominent blog The Quietus (#13) and quality daily The Guardian (#7 Best Folk Albums, in the good company of Lankum, ØXN and Shirley Collins).

Caroline Polachek also fell for her sound: “I have a weakness for bagpipes: when I hear one, I cry. I played The Reeling to pieces – so that’s a lot of tears.” That admiration actually even led to a collaboration.
AB embraced Brìghde with a spot at our summer festival Feeërieën (2023), indoor festival BRDCST (2024), and at the end of this year in AB Club on the occasion of her third album Sunwise (to be released this spring and containing another guest appearance by Colin Stetson).
Her inspiration? “My music is rooted in dark Highlands folklore, including seductive men who transform into creatures that drown women and humans desperate to communicate with birds.” What makes her so unique? “She has developed an innovative style on the Scottish smallpipes that emphasises rich textural drones and a trance-like constancy of sound.”
Welcome back, Brìghde!