The essential guide to the acts you need to see at Simple Things 2018

LICE

O2 Academy, 14.30-15.30

Kick-start proceedings with Bristol’s LICE, whose snarling post-punk is the perfect, raucous curtain raiser to the festival. The first group to be signed to fellow hometowners IDLES’ Balley Records label, they embarked on a sold out tour with the incendiary punks earlier this year. Their music is fierce and satirical, stirring up a storm with wailing guitars that’ll make you feel as though you’re facing down the world’s last moments. Like we said, one to wake yourself up with.

Tirzah

SWX, 15.30-16.30

Looking for a smoother entry point into Simple Things? Head down the front to catch a sublime set from queen of bedroom R&B, Tirzah. The Londoner’s intimate sound explores love, lust and adoration with devastating simplicity – and boasts collaborative input from Mica Levi. Her record from this year, Devotion, is a shoo-in for one of the best albums of 2018 so you’d be daft not to catch her early doors at SWX.

Jimothy Lacoste

O2 Academy, 16.45-15.30

Similarly compelling – but perhaps a touch more outré – Jimothy Lacoste will be on the charm offensive at the Crack Magazine stage. Despite being elevated to cult status thanks to lo-fi missives posted to Instagram and YouTube, his tracks are rooted in IRL London as much as online. Remember the Subway System video? While it’s safe to say Jimothy’s set won’t aggrieve the higher ups at TfL, the dance moves and Gen-Y lyrics should do their bit to widen the generational divide.

Black Midi

O2 Academy, 18.00-19.00

There’s something mystical about Black Midi. The Brixton group are riding a wave of hype thanks to their eccentric performances and dense math rock sound. The fact that nobody knows much about them and actual music is pretty thin on the ground makes them an even more intriguing entity. If you, like us, are curious to find out more, their early evening set is the place to be. Oh, and their singer comes across like a Mark E Smith for the internet age. Just saying.

Kamaal Williams

SWX, 19.45-20.45

After the unhinged idiosyncrasy of Black Midi, a slick jazz-funk set from Kamaal Williams provides a stark change of pace. Part of the broader jazz resurgence happening in the UK, the three-piece craft a succinct style of jazz fusion that echoes those of Sun Ra and Herbie Hancock, albeit with a sparky, London edge.

Octavian

SWX, 21.00-21.30

South London rapper Octavian is on a roll right now, and earlier this year we cited him as one of 25 artists shaping the future of music. His thrilling eclecticism, demonstrated by this summer’s Spaceman mixtape, genre-splices rap with drill, trap and house while his half-sung, half-rap vocal delivery is spun from braggadocious and introspective verses that trace his stratospheric rise. A deeply emotive core mixed with minimal bass-heavy beats and Drake-approved bangers makes for a powerful combination, and on stage the rapper’s shows are explosive, to say the very least; raucous, body-moving mayhem from start to finish.

Slowdive

SWX, 23.00-00.30

Few would have guessed that Slowdive – a band critically mauled the first time round – would prove everyone so, well, wrong. The Reading band’s late-period comeback, culminating in last year’s self-titled album, has done much to right the wrongs of music history, with their meditative, melancholic shoegaze resonating with a brand new audience. Whether you’re a day one-er who treasures their copy of Souvlaki or you’re a newcomer keen to catch a band at the top of their game, this headline slot is unmissable.

Deena Abdelwahed

Lakota 2, 0.00-01.30

Tunisian producer and DJ Deena Abdelwahed appeared on our radar almost a year ago, one of the producers tapped by Fever Ray for her seismic album Plunge. This year, she made it onto our Sounds Like the Future list. Why? She’s part of a new generation of internet-connected and politically active producers drawing from experimental and pan-global sources that, to our ears, is changing the fabric of electronic music. Get to know.

LOFT

Lakota 3, 00.00-01.00

It goes without saying that Simple Things’ nighttime programme offers a pin-drop into some of the most exciting, boundary breaking artists out there – but that means clashes are inevitable. Kicking off at the same time as Abdelwahed’s set is LOFT, but never fear, some judicious time management means you can dip into both. The Manchester producer has consistently operated outside of the confines of traditional dance music with her experimentalism, stitching together seemingly minimal abstractions to present an undefinable, new form. Her track funemployed, from the Wisdom Teeth EP Three Settlements Four Ways, got a nod of approval from none other than Björk, who featured the track in one of her mixes last year. If you didn’t hear it from us, well, you heard it from Björk.

DJ Python

Lakota 3, 01.00-03.00

After LOFT finishes, we recommend you stay for DJ Python. Producing under many guises, it’s through his Python moniker that Brian Piñeyro helmed one of 2017’s best albums: Dulce Compañia. “Mutant reggaeton” – his words, not ours – combines with smoky house and ambient. You could certainly catch his sense of rhythmic playfulness at this year’s Oasis Festival, where the Queens native dazzled with a rave-heavy set that became the weekend’s talking point. Will it be the same here?

Mafalda

Coroners Court 2, 01.00-03.30

Mafalda is a DJ in tune with her time. Steeped in the culture of London’s most respected and experimental dancefloors, the Lisbon-raised, London-based selector has built her reputation on her jazz and soul-heavy sets. Immersed in the capital’s thriving jazz scene, she’s as likely to drop a track by Moses Boyd as a deep-cover 60s cut, but it’s the way she hangs it all together, creating something that sounds truly fresh, eclectic and never, ever predictable.

Eris Drew

Coroners Court 2, 03.30-06.00

For those in the US, there’s no doubt that you’ll be familiar with Eris Drew. Expanding from beyond its borders this year, the Chicago DJ has rapidly become a hotly-tipped name on dancefloors across Europe, whipping up the euphoric spirit of old school raves with highly-energetic sets that veer from Chicago house to breakbeat, rave to garage at a second’s notice. Her split EP with Octo Octa, entitled Devotion, is expected to land the day before the festival, so she’ll be marking its release with a suitably loud and celebratory set, bringing the spirit of her Motherbeat parties to the UK – nights that she describes as hours of “sustained ecstasy”. What better way to see out Simple Things?

We hope you remembered to book Monday off.