LuxJury, BEAKS, Nightbus and Linda Elys bring the Eurosonic curtain down in style

When Simon Raymonde from the Cocteau Twins sends you an invite saying “Please come to my Bella Union Records showcase (P.S. There will be wine and canapés)”, your prior 6-7.30pm plans are immediately binned.

My Friday night at Eurosonic starts off accordingly at GOOV Muziektheater where LuxJury (pictured above) are demonstrating why they’ve been added to the cult label’s roster.

Fronted by Nicole ‘Lux’ Fermie, an Austrian now living in London exile, they kick off with the splendidly titled ‘Poly Amerie’, which archly declares that: “You’re the only one for me… until I find somebody else.”

Accompanied by a very funky bass-player and a drummer who gives each song exactly what it needs, it segues into ‘Hot Mess’, which contrary to its Prince-ian title is closer in spirit to Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’ – yep, the harmonies are that exquisite.

‘I Could Love You’ takes another drive along the Pacific Coast Highway – did somebody mention Yacht Rock? – whilst still managing to sound like it was minted in this century, not the last one.

LuxJury’s AOR trappings are shed on ‘Orphans’, a bare bones song about Fermie coming out late in the life and fearing rejection – the happy ending being that her friends and family couldn’t have been more supportive.

There’s just time left for ‘Both Teams’, a tongue in cheek (and other places) exploration of bisexuality, which allows its author to unleash her impressive falsetto.

Raymonde’s latest discoveries are Plantoid, a psych rock threesome from Brighton who are all celestial singing one moment and Iggy Pop thrash the next – a split personality which I find very endearing.

I suspect you will too if you get to see ‘em on March 24 in Dublin’s Grand Social and/or grab hold of new single 'Good For You', which features more of Chloe Coyne's almost choral vocals.

While being a former Voice Of Germany finalist is possibly more of a hindrance than it is a help, indie folk singer Linda Elys has become a chart regular in her native Switzerland and, judging by the whoops and hollers which greet her arrival on stage – well, on altar – in Lutherse Kerk, is starting to conquer other parts of Europe.

The whooping and hollering only intensifies when Elys launches into 'House On Fire' and 'I Don't Feel A Thing', which give Of Monsters And Men and the Mumfords a run for their money in the rabble rousing department.

Let's hope some Irish festival bookers were in the crowd...

With Johanna and Klara from First Aid Kit as big sisters, it's no surprise that Isak Benjamin has musical ambitions of his own, which ramped up last year when Spotify made him one of their 2025 Artists To Watch.

The most American sounding Swede you're likely to come across, the 22-year-old leans perhaps a little to heavily into his obvious Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen influences, going so far as to cover the latter's 'I'm On Fire' in disappointingly perfunctory fashion.

Benjamin is more successful when he affects a Chris Isaak meets Morten Harket croon, as he does on recent-ish single 'Angel Eyes' which is loudly sung back to him by the throng of adoring female fans in front of the stage.

A quick round of speed gigging affords me glimpses of SexyTadgh whose gender exploring cabaret works as well in Groningen as it does back home in Ireland; Inspector Spacetime, a frankly bonkers Icelandic dance outfit who are equal parts Aqua and LCD Sound System – against all the odds, it works; and Sodl, a wildly charismatic Austrian singer whose 'Mary, The Anarchist' marks her out as a swearier grunge Florence and The Machine.

The same gang of cool teenage girls who were in The Forum a year ago for Alessi Rose are back to see Muryel, a German singer who to me sounds like an AI-generated Taylor Swift but to them is clearly a sayer of considerable truths.

Like Rose, the subject matter rarely strays beyond boys and how much of a crushing disappointment they are.

Deciding that scores need to be settled, ‘Might As Well’ finds Muryel putting one of her errant exes six feet under. The cheers afterwards are deafening.

There's no denying that the Berliner can write a memorable pop hook with ‘The Girl Is A Lot' implanting itself in your head whether you like it or not.

When not gracing the catwalk, Vienna-based model Anna Francesca can be found doing her glacially cool rock thing as BEAKS.

A commanding presence on stage – and not just because she’s 5ft 11” in her bare feet – Francesca’s half-spoken/half-sung vocals have inevitably drawn Wet Leg and Dry Cleaning comparisons, but the likes of debut single ‘Fiction’ and ‘Robbers’ have more of a Joy-Division-if-fronted-by-Nico vibe.

Best of all is ‘Clueless’, which finds her screaming “I wanna do drugs/ I want to go back/ I want to hate you/ I want to have a sex” over a wall of scabrous guitar noise.

Also conjuring up throbbing basslines that Peter Hook would be proud of are Nightbus, Mancunian purveyors of dark electronica whose debut Passenger album is worthy of far more attention than it’s so far received.

‘Way Past Three’ comes on like a poppier Portishead while ‘Ascension’ is the sonic equivalent of a warm bubble bath.

Even without those drugs that BEAKS is so fond of, they're barm for the soul and the perfect way to bring the curtain down on this 40th anniversary edition of Eurosonic.