Listen to “hello hello” and pre-order BODYSCANNER here.

Speaking about the track, UCHE shares: “‘hello hello’ reflects a sense of disbelief in the face of the world around us. It asks the questions of how can it be that we all see, but not truly witness? How can we all hear, but not listen? How can we all feel, but remain indifferent? It’s an outcry against collective numbness and a search for empathy in an increasingly overwhelming reality.”

Watch UCHE YARA perform “hello hello” live at Sonnenraum, Berlin here.

BODYSCANNER is an album that began in the body long before it reached the mind.

Over the following two years since that initial studio session, UCHE followed instinct rather than analysis, creating a record that explores embodiment, self-perception, connection and belonging. Written and produced by UCHE herself, the album emerged from a process she describes simply: “I’ve written the album with my body, and now my mind knows it.” That idea became the foundation of the project. Through the making of BODYSCANNER, dance became less about performance and more about presence; less about being watched and more about listening to what the body was already trying to say.

Pulsing with electronic textures, hypnotic repetition, and a newfound confidence in space and rhythm, BODYSCANNER feels like a club record viewed from an unexpected angle. For years, UCHE found herself disconnected from much of the club culture surrounding her in Berlin. The pressure to perform, consume, conform or escape often felt at odds with what she was searching for. Yet through conversations with friends and experiences within more diverse and queer spaces, she began to imagine something different. “My approach moves away from the digital, hyper-stimulated, show-off realm that chases one dopamine hit and one drop after another at high speed,” UCHE shares. “I’m much more interested in connection rather than consumption.”

Across the album, UCHE explores everything from collective numbness and the pressure to endlessly self-optimize, to the liberating possibilities of shared joy. If previous releases showcased the breadth of her imagination, BODYSCANNER represents something different: the moment those instincts crystallized into a singular vision.

Since first emerging in 2023, UCHE YARA has established herself as one of Europe’s most exciting and unpredictable young artists. Praised by BBC 6Music’s Lauren Laverne, NME, Line of Best Fit, KCRW, KEXP, and NYLON, and championed early by COLORS with a standout COLORS SHOW performance, her music has continually defied easy categorization, drawing together elements of rock, pop, R&B and experimental sounds.

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The accompanying “U&I” video captures a raucous Paris street party Jersey threw for Fête de la Musique, the all-day summer solstice music celebration that is a French civic institution. It’s a chaotic yet idyllic snapshot of Jersey’s core appeal: deliriously fun and fluid music imbued with a mischievous streak that lends every one of their shows a guerrilla energy, the kind that gets the gear-forward duo worried for the safety of their new synthesizers.

Jersey’s alchemic blend of vintage French touch, anthemic UK indie, neon-streaked bloghouse, rubbery hyperpop, and euphoric big beat fits beautifully into the vaulted lineage of Parisian electronic pop — a lineage they are eager to toy with, as they repurpose the iconography of electronic music giants for their own bootleg merch. It’s another signature of theirs: An impish preoccupation with artifice and perception, an attitude that permeates their illusory manipulation of videos and press photos as much as their chameleonic productions.

Last month they shared “obsessed,” a high-energy track that pulls together hyperpop, rave, and trance into something that sounds entirely their own. It arrived alongside a music video filmed in a single take during a live house party session recorded in May. Much like the street takeover in the “U&I” video, it is the kind of performance that made Jersey a word-of-mouth phenomenon online: chaotic, magnetic and completely unfiltered, all live. Watch and listen to “obsessed” here.

Growing up in Normandy across the channel from the island of Jersey, from which they derive their name, the pair (brothers Carl and Renaud Amiard) soaked up the sounds of nearby UK radio, something which went on to inform many of their influences today. Their live sets regularly feature plenty of high-energy electro eclecticism that verges on hyperpop, and doses of tongue-in-cheek irreverence — think EA Sports stingers, the Lord Of The Rings theme played live on a synth — all set to an ever-increasing BPM.

Standalone moments from their previous shows have since become viral sensations, thanks in no small part to the chaotic responses from audiences; including partying with a lamp and, their fears now realized, breaking their synths.

Their Boiler Room set capped off a spectacular 2025, which has seen them perform at Sónar Istanbul, Beyond the Pale, and a surprise, packed out appearance at Primavera Sound. They were also tasked by Justice with remixing the single “Afterimage,” and, after much online demand by their fans, they finally released their reworking of “1901” by fellow French band Phoenix.

Keep an eye out for much more to come from Jersey throughout the year.

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Listen to “It Could Be Today” here and preorder the It Could Be Today album here.

“It Could Be Today” brims with a sort of summery positivity, a true smile-inducing treat with sinewy strings wrapping around a tactile and glowing groove. A song of love, support, and gentle inspiration, it was partially inspired by the pair’s adventures touring America with their live band and fittingly conceived in California. It’s the musical equivalent of a much-needed hug.

On It Could Be Today, Sons of Sevilla expand their sun-soaked signature sound while emphasizing the timeless warmth and color that has long been inherent in their joint productions. Produced by Skinshape, the album calls to mind Sweet ’17 era Twin Peaks (but replace Lake Michigan with the Mediterranean Sea), and has all the dreamy psych-pop meets breezy soft-rock of Drugdealer.

Recent single “Drive By Honey” saw Reuben Vaun Smith’s sweet, eyes-closed vocals rise above a languid, lolloping groove, effects-laden slide guitar, simmering strings, and mellow keys. The aural equivalent of heat haze rising from the California Pacific Coast Highway, it’s a sublime song to — as Reuben sings — “start the story.” Listen to “Drive By Honey” here.

Earlier this year, the duo shared double single “Forever Heaven” / “Changing,” which was recorded with producer Max Shrager (The Shacks, Say She She). Both tracks are musically rich, sonically vivid, terrifically tactile, and as emotionally stirring as they are infectious, with the former reaching #3 on KCRW’s Top 30 chart and both receiving support from BBC Radio 6 and more. Listen to “Forever Heaven” / “Changing” here.

Born via an impromptu brotherly recording session in their original home of Featherstone, West Yorkshire — a former coal-mining village in the North of England — and named in honor of a city they visited many times on family holidays in their youth, Sons of Sevilla have received plenty of plaudits since making their debut on Ubiquity Records in early 2024, a label that has also championed Reuben Vaun Smith’s similarly acclaimed solo work.

To date, they have released two fine full-length excursions, 2024’s Lullabies For a Wildcat and last year’s speedy sequel, Street Light Moon (produced by Black Pumas’ Adrian Quesada), and extensively toured the UK, Europe, and United States with their expanded band line-up.

With It Could Be Today, Sons of Sevilla are at their most musically assured, setting 2026 up to be a big year for the brothers.

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Awarded to globalFEST alumni artists, this year’s recipients are Elida Almeida, El Laberinto del Coco, Insun Park & Generals, Maria Mazzotta, Saami Brothers, and Sally Baby’s Silver Dollars. Collectively, these bands will present more than 50 performances in 18 states nationwide from July to December 2026. Read more about each artist below.

From 2011 to 2019, the globalFEST Touring Fund distributed $120,140 to 38 bands and 200+ individual artists. Those tours brought artists to over 140 new cities across the country, in front of tens of thousands of fans. The Touring Fund is aimed at helping to amplify extraordinary global and regional American music.

globalFEST Touring Fund Director Deirdre Valente elaborates: “The opportunities are abundant. The challenges are real. The globalFEST Touring Fund directly supports the ever-escalating costs that artists pay to share their music in the USA.

Artist mobility builds stronger communities, cross cultural solidarity, and celebrates the diversity and commonality of the human spirit across borders. Artists are the center of this ecosystem, but they are often the sole bearers of the financial risks to tour. The Fund responds by reimbursing artists to help cover necessary expenses to tour in the US — from travel and visas, to lodging and gear rentals.”

The relaunch of the globalFEST Touring Fund is made possible with a grant from The Mellon Foundation. Two more rounds of awards will be made to support tours taking place in 2027. To find out more about the globalFEST Touring Fund, visit the website here.

2026 globalFEST Touring Fund Recipients:

Elida Almeida
Santiago, Cabo Verde
Touring July 2 – 24, 2026, including Summer For The City at Lincoln Center 2026

The vivid singer and composer Elida Almeida and her 4-piece band share the stories of her native Santiago on every stage, pairing a silky voice with traditional Cabo Verde rhythms. “A seasoned, powerful performer,” Almeida is “a major player in a new generation of Cabo Verdean female singers.” – Afropop Worldwide

Tiny Desk Performance | Facebook | Instagram

El Laberinto del Coco
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Touring July 31 – October 11, 2026

El Laberinto del Coco is a 15-member Afro-Puerto Rican Bomba Fusion ensemble that blends ancestral rhythms with contemporary influences to create an electrifying, immersive live experience. “An astonishing mix of driving powerhouse drumming, daring horns and brass arrangements drawing from jazz and R&B, rock guitars, and strong vocals.” – Miami Herald

Website | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok

Insun Park & Generals
Seoul, South Korea
Touring July 16 – August 8, 2026

Insun Park & Generals merges South Korean ancestral mask dance and contemporary sound, driven by traditional rhythms, blessings, and sly satire. “A fun and enigmatic fusion of shamanic ritual folk songs and modern rock…culturally significant and deeply celebratory.” — Earmilk 

Website | Instagram

Maria Mazzotta
Lecce, Apulia, Italy
Touring December 1 – 12, 2026

Profound and meticulous, Mazzotta’s intense vocal explorations in Onde (Waves) range from native Apulian landscapes to Balkan seacoast cadences. “A daring musical journey encapsulating love, turmoil, joy and anger, Mazzotta’s stirring and passionate vocal personality intertwines seamlessly with edgy psychedelic guitars and post-rock attitude. A remarkable release.” – Songlines 

Website | Facebook | Instagram

The Saami Brothers
Karachi, Pakistan
Touring August 28 – September 28, 2026

Keepers and masters of an ancient lineage of Khayal and Qawwali tracing back 800 years to the Sufi poet, musician, and scholar Amir Khusrau, The Saami brothers create a living space for people to gather, exchange, reflect and heal, transforming listening into connection, ideas, and community. “A flowing dialogue of hypnotic rhythms, intricate vocals, and devotional themes. – IntoTunes 

Instagram

Sally Baby’s Silver Dollars
New Orleans, LA
Touring July 16 – October 3, 2026, including globalFEST at Celebrate Brooklyn 2026

Founded and fronted by singer-guitarist, composer, chronicler and tour guide Salvatore Geloso, Sally Baby’s Silver Dollars serves up original New Orleans R&B dance hall music and Creole Jazz. As NPR’s Tiny Desk confirms, “they don’t just lean on tradition,” the band “is inherently funky and timeless.” – NPR

Website | Instagram

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Watch and listen to “Open Your Eyes” and preorder Intentions here.

megiapa’s sound was forged over a decade of development on Chicago’s underground beat scene, where she regularly played standing nights like Push Beats, Open Beats, and Fresh Roasted, alongside artists like Sev Seveer, Radius ETC, Elijah Jamal Asani, and DJ Moppy. Majorly inspired by the contemporaneous Low End Theory scene of Los Angeles and artists like Madlib, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Flying Lotus, and Daedelus, megiapa’s early music was made in headphones at home, where she stitched together samples in Audacity. When she started playing out, she was one of few female artists on the Chicago beat scene, and was also unique in that world in that she brought a mic to sing over her own beats. As curator, event producer and International Anthem community leader King Hippo began weaving beatmakers into the fabric of the label’s live presentations in their early days, megiapa was one of the earliest crossovers he introduced, inviting her to open for artists like Makaya McCraven, Bottle Tree, and Ben LaMar Gay.

Intentions is a collection of music birthed by megiapa during her time in Chicago (initiated in part by a grant from the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, in fact), but was made truly possible by the surge of growth she experienced after relocating to Los Angeles in 2023. In three years on the West Coast, megiapa has had a full and enthusiastic embrace from the LA jazz, beats and underground hip hop communities, and has become a regular collaborator of artists like Stacy Epps, Stones Throw artist Mocky, and innovative bassist/multiinstrumentalist The Growth Eternal. As she found her voice and place in the LA scene, megiapa’s vision for her new album coalesced, and she finished the music by incorporating live instruments from The Growth Eternal, pianist Ahmad Muhammad aka Kafari (known for his work with Sudan Archives), drummer (and Pan Afrikan People’s Arkestra musical director) Mekala Session, Telemakus, Will Miller (of Resavoir) percussionist Allakoi “Mic Holden” Peete, and others, plus vocals from Voices of Creation singer Aankha Neal, and additional contributions from Blvck Spvde, 10.4 ROG, and more. megiapa then returned to Chicago in February 2026 to do final mixing on the album at International Anthem Studios with engineer Dave Vettraino.

In his liner notes for the album, writer Marcus J. Moore says Intentions “feels handmade in the truest sense: every synth patch, vocal harmony and drum pattern carries the residue of lived experience…By the time Intentions concludes, what remains is the feeling of having accompanied someone through a profound shift. The album asks listeners to relinquish their fear of the unknown. Again and again, megiapa returns to the same guiding principle: trust the process; everything will work out.”

About what she learned through her work, and what she hopes to communicate with Intentions, megiapa says: “Fear is a hindrance to our dreams and our goals and the beauty of life. Please dream with me. Please take a moment to reflect. And please be okay with things being uncertain.”

Watch “Open Your Eyes” here.

Intentions lead track “Open Your Eyes,” available as a video and digital single on all platforms today, drops you straight into megiapa’s sound world with an instant electric piano pickup. A delightfully infectious beat is fronted by megiapa’s voice and a legion of her own vocal harmonies in a positivity-laced update on turn-of-the-century Baduizms. Complete with crisp snare cracks, the percussive wash of bells, and an endlessly satisfying layered-dynamic-low-end pulse, “Open Your Eyes” is two minutes and fifteen seconds of high level, soul-warming R&B. “Everything we need is within us,” megiapa says of the track’s message. “We all reflect each other.” It’s the kind of statement that could sound overly sentimental in less capable hands, but she delivers it with grounded sincerity.

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Listen to and purchase “ELA / LUA” here.

“Lua” comes from Caetano Veloso’s 1975 album Jóia. While Veloso’s original groove inhabits an understated, meditative space, here the tune enters a more electronic realm, surrounding the song’s perfectly hypnotic melody with a busier texture of contrasting sonic elements. Here Miller and Gold’s gentle, half-tab psychedelia builds on and branches off from Veloso’s hypnotic, understated space, arriving at something a little darker, a little later-at-night.

“Ela” is a cover of the classic tune by Mario Adnet, which Will Miller first heard on Madlib’s Medicine Show No. 2: Flight to Brazil. This take strips the sound back considerably, giving the lead to Miller’s EVI while Gold’s fingerpicked acoustic guitar leads the delightful amble along. The whole vibe is bolstered by crisp shakers, understated bass guitar, and a sugar-sweet pedal steel.

Originally released in late spring 2025, Horizon is a collaborative album by Resavoir & Matt Gold. Across the 10 tracks the two Chicago-based musicians combine to create a beautiful love letter to their shared admiration for 70s jazz and MPB. Resavoir leading man Will Miller — the acclaimed trumpeter, synthesist, and producer who’s worked with SZA, Whitney, and more — connects with his longtime friend and collaborator Gold — a seasoned composer, multi-instrumentalist and guitarist who works with Makaya McCraven, Greg Ward, and more — and the results are distinctly unique for both of them. The sunny and expansive tunes on Horizon — including album standout “Diversey Beach” featuring vocals and string arrangements by Mei Semones — are as immersive as they are endlessly replayable. It is a dynamic and joyous body of work.

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Watch the visualizer for “All In For You” here

Logic1000’s acclaimed debut album established her as an artist capable of bringing vulnerability into club music, while last year’s expansive DJ-Kicks mix hinted at an ever-widening musical world. That world comes fully into focus on Confirmation!. Where Mother documented a period of profound change in becoming a parent, Confirmation! finds Poulter standing on steadier ground. Rooted in acceptance and self-belief, it is an album about embracing every version of herself — the child she once was, the woman she has become, and the mother she is today, as Logic1000 explains:

“I’ve realised that being ‘confirmed’ isn’t about arriving at a final version of yourself. It’s about feeling aligned with who you are today, while knowing you’ll continue to grow. It’s about having faith in yourself.”

Musically, Confirmation! is the fullest expression of Logic1000’s artistic identity so far. It seamlessly bridges the warm, club-ready pulse that first earned her international acclaim with the slower, more reflective sonic landscapes explored on DJ-Kicks, while folding in elements of trip-hop, big beat, ’80s synth-pop, indie songwriting, and leftfield electronica. Across the album, collaborations with Christine and the Queens, Jam City, FAUZIA, yunè pinku, KUČKA, and Tiffi M further expand Logic1000’s sonic world, while every influence still feels unmistakably hers. Its title draws on the sacrament of Confirmation, which for Poulter has become a deeply personal symbol, not simply of faith, but of affirmation and self-trust, a quiet statement of saying yes to every part of who she is.

That spirit is immediately evident on lead single “All In For You,” a radiant collaboration with Australian vocalist KUČKA. Floating between dream-like electronica, swirling synth-pop and heartfelt songwriting, the track embodies the emotional openness that defines Confirmation!, its uplifting melodies and understated groove capturing the feeling of surrendering fully to love, connection, and possibility. Speaking on the track, Logic1000 says:

“This track is the perfect introduction to the album. It’s a song that truly expresses this new direction without being too far removed from what I feel Logic is known for. This came into the world so organically and easily, it feels right for it to be the first to drop. KUČKA has been my vocal crush for a very long time. She’s an artist in the truest sense, and in a way, as a fellow Australian, I feel connected to Laura. We sent her the initial sketch of the song and I just knew I would love what she had done, I didn’t know I would love it to this extent though. I was floored. It was such a pleasure working with Laura and even though we just spoke on text, working with someone who’s so easy and lovely and talented really does put good energy into the project. I think you can hear that in the song.”

Over the past five years, Logic1000 has become one of electronic music’s most distinctive voices, celebrated for productions that balance emotional intimacy with undeniable dancefloor instinct. Championed by Four Tet, Floating Points, and Caribou, and following performances everywhere from Glastonbury and Coachella to Primavera and a sold-out four-night residency at London’s Phonox, Samantha Poulter has quietly built a catalogue that feels entirely her own, while also lending her singular touch to remixes for the likes of Dua Lipa, Shygirl, and Don Toliver.

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On “Locomotive” + “Locomotive – Part II” the beat is heavy as ever and the lyrics are even weightier, sometimes even oppressive in their scrappy yet discerning sharpness. Of the collaboration with Lil Darkie, Token says, “I met Darkie last year at his show in Boston and he became one of the only dudes I know in this industry that I truly call a friend. He sent me this beat, and I knew it was the one. We went back-and-forth – me recording myself, and him recording himself, and we just had fun making it. You can definitely hear that in the song. I think we’re both crazy people and that’s why we love each other.”
 

Watch “Locomotive ft. Lil Darkie” video here

A self-proclaimed introvert, Token found himself in a contemplative position while writing this record. Riding the momentum of his highest success of his 2025 album I’m Not Supposed To Be Here, he also found himself facing the concept of his own mortality in a very real way after receiving a string of abnormal blood results. Of this dual state, Token says it “had me wondering: will this moment be leaving soon? And writing this album I was also wondering if I will be leaving soon.” 

This mindset triggered the desire to connect with a slew of new collaborators: “I’ve always been an introvert. When it comes to my personal life and my career, it’s difficult for me to be social. I felt in this moment right now, before it goes away, it’s time to push myself to make new friends and make music that will reach more people than just my current base. It resulted in a long album with bangers, a lot of features, and a lot of words about how long I will be here.”

Token began producing tracks in a rapid-fire style reminiscent of early Eminem when he was in high school; in 2015 his breakthrough “No Sucka MC’s” surpassed 1 million views online, after which he expanded his audience with a performance on Sway in the Morning SiriusXM. XXL christened it “one of the year’s best freestyles, if not one of the best performances ever on Sway’s legendary show. ”

In 2016, he dropped his first mixtape Eraser Shavings, followed by 2018’s Between Somewhere. Generating 100 million-plus streams, it also spawned anthems including “YouTube Rapper” [feat. Tech N9ne], “Household Name, ” and “Flamingo.” Token then went to work assembling 2022’s Pink Is Better, released under his own label Never Too Different and Atlantic records. The major label debut included features from JID, Rico Nasty, Benny The Butcher and Lil Skies. He’s since embarked on headline tours throughout North America and Europe. Last year, he released I’m Not Supposed To Be Here, his most personal album yet, which won Album of the Year at the Boston Music Awards.

Amidst all of his success, he’s landed sync placements in the Fast & Furious franchise, Scoob!, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Madden, and Dhurandhar The Revenge, which has become one of the highest-grossing Indian films of all time. He also recently released a collab with Emiway Bantai who’s one of the biggest rappers in India.

Having surpassed 6 million monthly listeners, Token has firmly established himself as more than the lyrical freestyle sensation he first emerged as. Today, he stands as a fully realized artist whose music continues to resonate deeply with fans worldwide.

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For 24 years, globalFEST has been a gateway — introducing New York audiences to the sounds, traditions, and stories that connect us across borders. Behind that legacy stand curators Shanta Thake, Bill Bragin, and Isabel Soffer, whose decades of advocacy have made music a bridge to a more open, empathetic understanding of the world. At a moment when borders feel like they’re closing rather than opening, globalFEST makes the case — loudly, joyfully — for artist mobility, cross-cultural solidarity, and the music that reminds us how much we share.

Of the summer ahead, Thake, Bragin, and Soffer say, “Having two free festival dates this summer with Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and Celebrate Brooklyn means we can bring global and regional American music to even more New Yorkers, across two of the city’s most beloved outdoor stages. These partnerships let us deepen our reach into communities on both sides of the river and share the joy of discovery that’s always been at the heart of what we do.”
 

AUGUST 1 @ JOSIE ROBERTSON PLAZA
SUMMER FOR THE CITY

On August 1st, gF returns to  Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City on The Dance Floor at Josie Robertson Plaza  with an exquisite lineup that highlights the musical diversity of the African continent. 

The extraordinary singer Elida Almeida creates joyful music through the rhythms of her homeland, the West African island nation of Cape Verde.

Sudanese-American pop experimentalist Sinkane blends soul, prog rock, electronica, and funk with East African pop.

Saha Gnawa channels a North African futuristic vision where Moroccan Gnawa meets NYC jazz, groove, and cosmic dub.

AUGUST 7 @ LENA HORNE BANDSHELL
CELEBRATE BROOKLYN!

On August 7th, at the Lena Horne Bandshell in Prospect Park, globalFEST teams up with BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! at BRIC to draw on traditional and contemporary sounds from around the world. Of the partnership, Saidah Blount, BRIC Executive Director says, “We’re thrilled to host globalFEST on the Celebrate Brooklyn! stage for the first time. This lineup, DakhaBrakha from Ukraine, Yeison Landero from Colombia, Sally Baby’s Silver Dollars from New Orleans, and Sunju Park from Korea, reflects the rich diversity and range of music tastes across Brooklyn and New York City. We’re proud to bring globalFEST home to Brooklyn.” The event will feature spectacular performances by:

Agents of “ethno chaos” DakhaBrakha (Ukraine), who use polyphony as its foundation, interweaving complex rhythmic and melodic structures from around the world.

Cumbia noble Yeison Landero (Colombia), Known as “el heredero de la cumbia” (the heir to cumbia), Landero delivers exhilarating, high-energy performances that fuse tradition with contemporary power.

Sally Baby’s Silver Dollars (New Orleans) bring their fresh take on retro New Orleans R&B dance hall music and Creole Jazz.

Sunju Park (Korea), recognized for pioneering a new genre of gayageum performance, reshaping the role of Korea’s iconic instrument within global contemporary art. 

Since its founding in 2003, globalFEST has been a trailblazing organization highlighting international and regional American music, helping launch the U.S. touring careers of hundreds of artists like Angélique Kidjo, Antibalas, DakhaBrakha, Thandiswa Mazwai, Red Baraat, Bab L’Bluz, Meridian Brothers, and hundreds more. Created in response to the dark days between 9/11 and the start of the Iraq War, globalFEST is devoted to encouraging cultural awareness through musical discovery. Over its 23-year history, the festival has presented over 300 artists from more than 70 countries and nations and is recognized for bridging cultural divides while championing gender equity, LGBTQ+ voices, and advocacy for artists whose homelands face crises, natural disasters, and hardships.

globalFEST is one of the world’s most dynamic global music platforms, growing from an acclaimed festival/showcase into a catalytic non-profit service organization for curators, artists, and the performing arts field that moves international and regional American music into the center of the performing arts field. The programs have evolved to include the curation of notable stages and festivals, the creation and distribution of urgent grants, a partnership with NPR Music’s Tiny Desk series, the gF Awards, and Wavelengths, an industry-focused music conference. Through its work, the not-for-profit 501(3)C globalFEST (gF) encourages networking and cultural diplomacy; deepens cultural understanding among its constituents; builds audiences for international music and creates new opportunities for artists leading to a more robust and sustainable ecosystem for global and regional American music.

For over 20 years, the organization’s eponymous main winter festival – now at Lincoln Center – has been the premier event introducing audiences and performing arts professionals to the world’s most exciting musical traditions and innovative sounds. At a time when it feels like borders are closing, globalFEST shines a light on the importance of artist mobility, cross cultural solidarity, and celebrating the diversity and commonality of the human spirit. 

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“Cha Cha Slide” is another perfect example of a band that has a seemingly endless ability to write, perform and produce songs that not only genuinely slot into the platitudes of “earworm” and “irresistible,” but also capture modern life with a uniquely acerbic wit, as Josh explains of the new single;
 
“This song is about the feeling of everyone else somehow knowing what to do. It’s about a feeling I’d get as a child that has never quite left me; that I just don’t really know what to do at social occasions. It’s about realising that trying to connect with and understand people is a lifetime of trial and error. It’s probably the saddest song we’ve ever written.”
 

Watch “Cha Cha Slide” here

The follow up to cult classic debut Crisps, Massive Champion comes on the heels of triumphant performances on KEXP on which it seemed everyone in the room “burned an accumulative 5,000 calories,” at Harry Styles’ Meltdown, on Later… with Jools Holland, as arena support to Viagra Boys, and a sold-out run of headline US and Australia dates. 

An odyssey of anarchic joy, seditious wit and boundless energy, Massive Champion finds Josh Law and Ben Sadler pushing deeper into the singular world they have been building for years. An ode to childhood, British cultural detritus and the absurd poetry of everyday life, the record distills everything that has made Getdown Services one of the most exhilarating and unpredictable bands around. In the band’s words it is “about self pity and realizing that maybe all of the healing your inner child stuff you hear about isn’t actually total bollocks. Musically and lyrically I think it’s about us trying to clean up our act a bit.”

Getdown Services’ sardonic playfulness has found fans in Walton Goggins, Troye Sivan, Harry Styles, BBC Radio, and more. They’ve brought their “high-octane, low-culture genius” (The Guardian) to the likes of Glastonbury, their hometown/Bristol’s Beacon theater, and packed rooms around the globe; they’re set to play with CMAT at LIDO Festival in London, and they’ll embark on their biggest UK tour to date this summer, with second headline shows already added at London’s Roundhouse and Bristol’s Beacon due to overwhelming demand.

With momentum building at a staggering pace, and their live shows already the stuff of legend. Their stance on modern British life sits somewhere between rave, satire, and social commentary –– and it is winning them legions of fans all over the world. A triumph of hard work and the grassroots scene, Getdown Services jokingly coined themselves Britain’s Best Band. With the joyous and utterly singular Massive Champion, it feels less like a punchline and more like a statement of intent.

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