After the announcement of the first names of the eighth edition of Poplar Festivalthe event that has animated the entire city of Trento since 2017, starting from the historic district of Piedicastello and Doss Trento, the line up of the event is expanding even further, a four-day event from 12 to 15 September supported by the cultural insights of the Poplar CULT! review.
The search for variety and the strong push for internationalization have guided the choices of the artistic direction, which is oriented towards male and female musicians who are making their way on the global scene. For many of these, Poplar will represent one of the first Italian stages of their career.
No Geography is the claim that contains the heart of this year's event, focused on the importance of sharing and the transformative power of collective, musical and cultural experience. The novelty and the cancellation of boundaries, both material and immaterial, will be expressed through an extremely varied programming which in its variety does not see differentiation, but experimental juxtaposition and continuous contamination as fundamental agents.
TWO STAGES, 40+ ARTISTS
The multiplication of ecosystems and energies will also be supported by a substantial change in the venue: in Doss Trento park in fact there will be two stages, an absolute novelty for 2024 which will allow the atmosphere to be even more electric and pervasive, affecting two areas of the park.
YUNG LEAN'S RETURN TO ITALY AND OTHER NEWS
A second release that makes the hype palpable and paves the way towards many other announcements that over the next few months will draw a line up full of news and firsts on Italian territory. In business since he was 15 years old YUNG LEAN will be on the Poplar stage more than 5 years after the last Italian date, which will see the sadboy with cloud rap roots performing a few months after the release of his latest album Psykos, in which alternative rock and post-punk find space and which was born from the collaboration with Bladee, a faithful member of the Swedish collective Drain Gang. Yung Lean is a very powerful voice already almost cult for lovers of rap that doesn't follow trends. At just 27 years old, it can be said that he has changed the face of rap music and brings with him a wealth of experience, boasting collaborations with names of the caliber of Skrillex and FKA Twigs.
To refresh everything, two bands made in the UK. The Londoners LOS BITCHOS they are difficult to define. Their live shows are a psychedelic party that is impossible to resist, you can breathe euphoria among the band's instrumental tracks. Their performances, influenced by cumbia, funk, disco, 60s surf, are an explosion and a dream pop party, which also attracted the attention of Franz Ferdinand's frontman. The LAMBRINI GIRLS instead they come from the Brighton punk music scene and are definitely pissed off. Their songs are a denunciation of society, ferocious and get straight to the point. An unstoppable and certainly energetic trio, a live performance that exalts and transforms. Their latest single Body Of Mine is more personal, talking about gender identity and how to get in touch with yours when you don't feel fully yourself.
Let's change coordinates with the harmonies of MARCO CASTELLO, a multi-instrumentalist who blends funk-jazz and bossa nova and will take us on an immersion in the colors and late summer breezes that blow over the park. A witty and ironic pen that mixes Italian and Syracusan dialect, in the name of his Sicilian origins. After an experience on tour with La Comitiva, a project by Erlend Øye (member of Kings of Convenience), Castello also took part in MACE's new album together with Ele A with the song “viene il mondo explode”. Also on the Doss stage OKGIORGIO, who stands out among the faces chosen by Spotify for Radar 2024. Giorgio Pesenti – former member of the Iside collective – is a musician and producer who is dominating the Italian clubbing scene. Producer of artists such as Fulminacci, Pinguini Tattici Nucleari and Loredana Bertè, he released his first EP ok last December. Five tracks in which the voices sound like instruments and Giorgio's guitar dominates; a mix of electronic sounds that will shake the whole Doss hill.
Directly from Naples, a city where music has always been open to contamination, three of the best contemporary projects arrive to shock the Poplar stages. After the success of their performance in 2022, they return FUERA, a trio that mixes rap, techno and psychedelic sounds. A show where it is impossible not to jump, a unique style that has always characterized them compared to the rest of the music scene. They returned at the end of March with the single What are you doing tonight?, a track with softer sounds than CIRCO MEZZALUNA, but with the same techno imprint that makes you dance and involves. Class of 2002 THREE-POLE he is a singer-songwriter and producer, who from his little room opens a crack towards the outside world and its contradictions. He is instinctive, sincere, shy but with a desire to escape which gives him the right energy to conquer the stage. A blast of warm air comes with ANNA AND VULKAN, a multi-instrumentalist who sees Vesuvius as a constant symbol of returning home. She began writing her first songs at fifteen, with a pen that alternates Italian and Neapolitan, while she plays as a drummer in different projects, ranging between different genres that influence her each in their own way. In November 2023 she released her first single Comm'è which mixes pop, jazz, tropicalism and blues guitars, followed by the ballad Scurò.
There are still many names to be announced for more than 40 artists expected in the line up. With this release we are at sixteen, with the latest acts adding to the eight already communicated, in which they appeared VIAGRA BOYS, LIGHTNING, MOUNT KIMBIE, SOFIA KOURTESIS, ELE A. It's still FAT DOG, ZIMMER90 and ALTEA.
https://www.poplarfestival.it
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
