Isolation Budapest

The unique musical philosophy of Isolation Budapest speaks for itself in 2024, providing a space for exciting international and local artists to move under the radar, which is faithfully reflected in this year's line-up. New York's Elysian Fields, active since 1995, is one of the most prominent names. The band has been collaborating with some of New York's most acclaimed musicians for decades, and Jeff Buckley, Bon Iver, St. Vincent and David Bowie have all been around Elysian Fields. Following the success of their first album, they collaborated with Steve Albini on their second album, which was not released until 17 years later, after their 8th album, due to a disagreement with their label at the time, and will be coming to Isolation Budapest with the magical 'What The Thunder Said', released this year. More recently, there was news of the stormy break-up of black midi, and then that guitarist and frontman Geordie Greep is embarking on a solo career, releasing his first solo album with Rough Trade in October. Two weeks after the release of the album, Geordie Greep will be coming to Isolation Budapest with his first full band tour. The pace of last year's festival at KisHall was hard to keep up with and this year it will be a tradition as Geordie Greep (black midi) will be joined by the most influential band on the current Manchester DIY scene, Mandy, Indiana. Last year's debut album was a year-end chart-topper, with the New York Times, Pitchfork and the Guardian all ranking i've seen a way among the best albums of 2023. With their ferocious, angry music, they have practically redefined the foundations of industrial music, and French singer Valentine Caulfield stands out from the band's raging noise with a brutal sense of humour.

The festival will also feature one of the most up-and-coming British songwriters of the 2010s, Jake Bugg, the youngest son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, Seun Kuti, who will be coming to Isolation Budapest with his father's band Egypt 80. Seun Kuti's new album, due out in October, was produced by Lenny Kravitz and will feature contributions from the likes of Damian Marley and Sampa The Great. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, who once had David Bowie among his fans, will perform an intimate 'piano & voice' solo concert at the Akvárium Klub's Lokal room. Also among the first names to be announced was a joint project between Elias B. Ronnenfelt and Gabriel Ferrandini, a real curiosity as the critically acclaimed Danish Iceage singer and one of Portugal's most colourful drummers have only ever played one concert together in Madeira five years ago. On that occasion, Elias B. Ronnenfelt sang, recited and played accordion, while Ferrandini accompanied him on various percussion instruments. So Isolation Budapest will show how their art has developed over the last five years. The closing concert will be given by Lord Apex, whose music is one of the best things to happen to British hip-hop culture in the 2020s. The London-based artist has toured with some of the biggest names in American hip-hop in 2022, with Freddie Gibbs, Action Bronson and Earl Sweatshirt & The Alchemist taking Lord Apex on tour with them.

One of the most exciting musicians and producers of the Budapest underground, Papp Mukunda, who is inspired by soul, psychedelia, hip-hop, indie and spiritual jazz, will open the NagyHall and will bring a band to Isolation Budapest. This year's most unique concert of the KERET Kikeltető will be presented by pyylen, and the Local Hall will be opened by the singer-songwriter/producer duo Szolnoki x Tendency, who appeared in the Sávlekötő show.