Highlights from Pitchfork Music Festival London 2022
Photography: Sam HuddlestonPitchfork delivers one of the most impressive lineups yet for its annual music festival.
Nothing marks the closely approaching end of the year quite like Pitchfork’s annual music festival. November’s darkness creeps in out of nowhere, sunlight is gone by about 5 pm, and summer feels like a distant memory. However, it’s Pitchfork’s music festival that brightens up these dreary November nights. Each year they bring some of the best new artists to London and Paris, but this year they also included Berlin for the first time. Spread across a variety of venues, this year showcased some of our favourite new artists of 2022.
O. / Black Country New Road
At the ICA, new Speedy Wunderground signing O. paved the start of the night with their explosive psychedelic jazz; one part Comet Is Coming, one part even weirder. Their saxophonist used a variety of effects to create sounds that you would never expect to come out of a saxophone. Deep distorted bass flipped back to erratic and volatile highs. In many ways, the support act felt like a gift for all the fans of Black Country, New Road who missed their older more intense music. With their set over Black Country, New Road takes the stage. As the lights dim, the room falls to a hush. Abruptly, ‘Summer of 69’ by Bryan Adams starts playing before the band engulfs the stage. They open with ‘Up Song’, a heartfelt tune that sees the band collectively chanting “BCNR, Friends Forever”. Being their first London show for a while, after some extensive touring, they seemed confident and at home. Tongue-in-cheek mentions of Best New Music and mischievous smiles from Lewis Evans show this is a band that are here to have a laugh and don’t really take themselves too seriously. With the departure of lead singer Isaac Wood a week before the release of their critically acclaimed album, it felt very unlikely that the band would be able to pick the pieces as quickly as they clearly have. Though they aren’t performing any of their first two albums, they’ve quickly assembled a setlist of completely new tracks. Throughout the set, the band take turns on the lead vocals, but it is bassist Tyler Hyde who really steals the show. Her vocal style is probably the closest to Isaac’s in terms of delivery, while it’s also the most original. The closing song, ‘Dancers’ is a song that, to me, might be one of their strongest songs, and that’s including the first two albums. It’s a deeply moving song that pulls you as Evans’ saxophone wails towards the final crescendo. Though the band have had some ups and down since they originally met, if you were seeing them at a festival with no prior knowledge of their music, you wouldn’t be able to tell. You wouldn’t notice that they had lost not one but two lead singers since playing together. With ‘Dancers’ closing the night, the lights came on, and the theme tune to HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm sardonically started playing. Larry David would probably say “pretty good”, but this new incarnation of Black Country, New Road, might just turn out to be more than that, and after a difficult journey, the band finally seem in a good place.
Billy Woods / Injury Reserve
At Village Underground, Billy Woods brought his idiosyncratic beats to the stage, ripping through tracks at a breakneck speed. He played a variety of tracks from recent albums, but it was his tracks ‘Spongebob’ and ‘Checkpoints’ from Hiding Places that really stood out with their thick dizzying production. Woods’ strained vocals exclaim that notorious producer The Alchemist might just have a future in this. The show is a haze of meditative lyricism and cynical flows. Woods’ performance had a dark energy to it that seemed to disappear by the time Injury Reserve took the stage. Unlike Woods, Injury Reserve seem to be a more fully functional production despite losing a member too. Their hyper-pop vocals and abrasive beats push the crowd into a mosh pit like no other. Swirls of bright lights surround frontman Stepa J. Groggs as the crowd stares up, deeply in awe.
Cate le Bon / Courtney Barnett
The week came to a close at London’s Roundhouse with a day that felt most like a stereotypical festival. Throughout the day, a variety of talented artists played, including Big Joanie, Samia, Yot Club, Léa Sen, Fake Fruit, Gretel Hänlyn, Cate le Bon and Courtney Barnett. As the day progressed, it was clear that the most anticipated acts of the night were Cate le Bon and Courtney Barnett. A rainbow of lights encompassed Le Bon as she played a mix of tracks from her latest record ‘Pompeii’ and her last album ‘Reward’. Le Bon’s band were on true form this evening, her saxophonist alone creating some of the lushest sounds of the week. Le Bon was also joined on stage by Courtney Barnett for the song ‘Rock Pool’. As her set closed, there was only one artist left to see, and with the taster of Barnett during le Bon’s set, it was definitely time for the main course. Barnett came on to new favourite and lead single from her latest album ‘Rae Street’; the track had a surprising energy to it that infected and overcome the crowd. The set was a healthy mix of old and new songs, and Barnett had a cute and wholesome aura about her. Her guitar playing is one of her biggest selling points, but she’s an artist who just seems like she would be a good friend. She seemed high-spirited and happy to be there performing despite what may have been a rough couple of years. Cate le Bon returned the favour and played some guitar during Barnett’s set. With the end of the set, Pitchfork Music Festival London was sadly over. Marking what must be the last important festival of 2022, it’s hard not to reflect on the past year. This felt like the true return of live music after a number of years where some artists weren’t even allowed to leave their countries (looking at you, Australia). Pitchfork Music Festival London 2022 really embodied the zeitgeist of the return to live music with a plethora of diverse artists from all over the world. Reminding me almost of a mini Primavera Festival. On dark November evenings, it might be easy to dread the inescapable winter, but it is Pitchfork Music Festival that will feel like a soothing hot chocolate to make things feel slightly sweeter. Their lineup usually gets announced in the summer, so keep an eye out next year to beat those winter blues.
