Kieran Webber
Director and Founder of CLUNK Magazine, CLUNK Events, and other CLUNK affiliate businesses. You’ll probably find me tucked away somewhere sending emails, listening to music, and creating content.
As The Great Escape 2026 looms, we wanted to put together just SOME of the artists that we cannot wait to see in Brighton
The world may be in a bit of a strange place right now, but one thing is certain… Brighton’s The Great Escape will showcase some of the world’s best new music. As always, we will be there on the ground giving you the very best coverage. However, in the meantime, we went through the line-up and plucked just SOME of the artists we are most excited to see.
Adult DVD
The Leeds six-piece Adult DVD first caught our eye last year where we actually caught them in the basement of Concorde 2 during last years Great Escape. It was a wild, frantic, electrifying show that had us hooked. Imagine if LCD Soundsystem and The Orb merged together, with a sprinkle of some ‘magic powder’ then you have Adult DVD. From there we caught them at various spots across the country and with each performance the band grew faster than some bacteria. Their stage presence increased and their sound got more intense and most importantly, fun. We cannot wait to see them again at this years Great Escape… 2026 is going to be their year and this may be one of the last opportunities to see them in such an intimate space.
Ain’t
We’ve actually only recently caught wind of the South London outfit Ain’t with their latest single ‘Grazer’, a 90’s slacker rock/grunge inspired single that boasts the bands effortlessly cool sound. Ain’t have a sound that is refreshingly nostalgic that brings forward the glory days of artists such as Weezer. We cannot wait to see them live at this years Great Escape Festival.
Angine De Poitrine
Angine De Poitrine are arguably the worlds hottest and most discussed band around at the moment. Their KEXP session saw them absolutely explode into popularity due to their microtonal a la math rock sound, as well as of course, strange yet creative outfits. There was a comment on one of their videos that sums them up perfectly “We will send our greatest warriors to battle AI”. There truly is not a better way to explain this band, they are insanely human in the fact that it is wildly unique and creative. Watching Angine live is likely going to be a complete highlight of The Great Escape 2026.
Big Long Sun
The Brighton/London outfit Big Long Sun bring their experimental, harmonious, and delightfully chill sound to their hometown. The collective that features 8 members are arguably one of the most creative and poetic songwriters around at the moment. Something we can attest to as we were invited to listen in on their latest workshop/writing retreat at The Cornish Bank, Falmouth. We are yet to experience them fully in a live setting and we can’t wait to do so soon.
Brodie Milner
Brodie Milner has been on our CLUNK radar for some time.
Since his debut EP ‘tragicomedy’ back in 2023, Milner has quietly been working on a new collection of songs, focusing on a series of characters and narratives that intertwine in a sarcastic, serious, cynical, sad and sincere way. His upcoming EP ‘Holy Ghost Survivors Group (Part 1)‘ is lined with witty, indie earworms that will have you addicted in no time.
Live, Milner gives a powerful, evocative performance, pushing songs like ‘Convenience Store Gospel‘ and ‘Hateful Song‘ to a whole other level. We bet it won’t be long until he’s selling out the big stages.
congratulations
Brighton natives congratulations are on the cusp of absolutely exploding so believe us when we say that getting ahead of the curve on this band is essential. Their debut album ‘Join Hands’, which is out now via Bella Union (also Brighton based) showcased their ability to delve into the weird, chaotic, fun, and bombastic. The band harness an ever-evolving sound that is non-stop with its energy and to witness this live, in 2026, will be nothing short of a privilege for those in attendance. We promise you, congratulations are going to be big so be sure to get there early at The Great Escape.
Julia Cumming
The lead-singer of the New York based group Sunflower Bean Julia Cumming has recently taken a step to venture into the wide world as a solo artist. Opening with her debut single ‘My Life’ showcased her soft, yet captivating vocals matched with heartfelt and open songwriting. As she boldly exclaims in the singles chorus “My life is mine”, a true statement of intent and one that has us excited about this project. So much so, we’ll be fighting our way to the front of her performance at The Great Escape.
La Securité
The Montreal art-punk collective who are signed to the Brighton label Bella Union started turning heads with their 2023 debut album ‘Stay Safe’. A collection of meandering, genre-bending, guitar focused rock for weirdos. Something that continues with their latest releases ‘Bingo’ and ‘Snack City’. Imagine if Talking Heads, Death From Above 1979 and Roxy Music formed a super group, that is La Securite.
Lime Garden
Another Brighton band (the city really is home to so many amazing artists) Lime Garden play The Great Escape 2026 off the back of their sophomore album ‘Maybe Not Tonight’, out now via So Young Records. The new music displays a maturity for the band that can be felt throughout their songwriting and overall sound. Highlights from the new album are ‘Downtown Lover’, which gives us some tasty guitar licks, and the heartbreaking poignance of ’23’. We are very excited to hear the new music live at this years Great Escape.
Salarymen
We first caught Salarymen at Australia House during our visit to SXSW back in 2023. Since then we’ve been hooked and even hosted them at one of our showcase events in London. Lots has changed for the band since then as well as they enter The Great Escape with their debut album ‘Take It Or Leave It’ under their belts. It’ll be a pleasure to see this uber-chill guitar driven outfit again. They’re fast becoming one of Australia’s hottest exports.
Westside Cowboy
Arguably one of the most exciting rock outfits to come out of the UK in the last decade. A band that always dazzles live and recently come off supporting Geese across the U.K. This will likely be your last chance to see Westside Cowboy before they become the inevitable headliners of not just The Great Escape, but festivals across the world.
World News
One of London’s most exciting bands around right now and one that is on an extreme upwards trajectory. We first got our ear around them with their single ‘The Tinman’, a cascading release that had every element for the perfect introduction to the band. Beautiful vocals, guitars that filled ones ears, rhythmic percussion, and a sense of uplift throughout. We weren’t the only ones to take notice as the band now sit with just under 200,000 monthly listeners on Spotify alone. Now the band gear up for the album with the latest single ‘Sidestep’, a daringly retrospective (yet modern) sound. This is another band that you MUST see before they blow up.
Y
The South London outfit Y may have a band name that can make them impossible to find on Spotify etc but it’s hard to ignore the explosive sound of the band (once you find their music haha). The band opened strong back in 2025 with their intense debut single ‘Why’ and they’ve been following this opener ever since. Latest cut ‘Duplicate’ however shows a softer, more subtle side to the band, at least for the first half. Then we are thrown into the familiar saxophone led, berserk sound that makes Y so intriguing and unpredictable.
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