Up-and-coming bands to watch out for from Electric Picnic 2017

There is no doubt that the line-up of Electric Picnic 2017 was stacked to the rafters. With bands like The XX, A Tribe Called Quest, and Duran Duran playing headline shows, even the most intrepid of music fans would have found it impossible to see everything.
Still, fear not because Hot Press is here to tell you about some of the best acts you might have missed and should watch out for.

Moses Sumney

Even though only a few dozen people saw it, the LA-based Moses Sumney was one of the absolute highlights of the festival. In an interview with Pitchfork, Moses said, “I want to be this presence that just is, so when I get on stage I try to be as free and open as possible and let the performance go anywhere that it wants to go.” Moses delivered an incredible and effortless performance that cast an ethereal, otherworldly spell over the Body and Soul stage.
With just him and one other musician, the songs were slowly built up by looping elements together until something magical happened. The best part of his performance was his incredible voice. With an evocative and soft beauty in the style of Thom Yorke, Moses Sumney’s voice is mezmerising and is among the greatest of the contemporary scene.
If you didn’t see this performance and, more than likely, you didn’t, you should be kicking yourself. There are no other Ireland dates in the near future but his debut LP will be released in the coming weeks and, in the words of Moses, “buy it, stream it, illegally download it, I don’t care. Just listen to it.”
TooFools

TooFools is the musical brainchild of two friends, Steven McCann and Lorcán O'Dwyer. These two talented multi-instrumentalists and legitimately awesome people are deeply hooked into the Dublin underground music scene and have recruited a plethora of musical friends to form their live band.
Their sound is an explosion of funky goodness that is served up steaming hot with a combination of influences that span the decades. Their stated influences are Outkast, Stevie Wonder, D’Angelo and Vulfpeck but they incorporate a lot more into their craft.
Songs like ‘Torn’ reach into the 70’s to combine moments of vocoded vocals with soaring female vocals that channel the power of Pink Floyd’s ‘Great Gig in the Sky’.
No matter what influences TooFools draws from, they are able to bring it all together with a modern sheen that makes their funk-influenced sound an expansion on the spirit of the genre instead of just another tribute to the past. This feat reveals that this band is a gathering of musicians’ musicians that does Dublin proud.
Make sure you keep an eye out for their upcoming performances around Dublin.
Akora
Akora is part of the same circle of young up-and-coming Dublin-based musicians as TooFools. They are still a new collective but all of the musicians play together with a synergy that belies their freshness on the scene.
Their performance at the Play The Picnic stage on Sunday night was a great display of their neo-soul/electronic-influenced sound. Fronted by the talented and beautiful Ciara O’Connor, the band effortlessly moved between genres and energy levels to deliver a memorable performance.
While there is still very little info on this band (so much so that there is not even a video that can be embedded into this article), they are one to watch out for on the Dublin scene because they are on course to only get better and better with every performance.
Farah Elle

Farah Elle is an artist that is truly destined to become a tremendous ambassador of the Irish music scene. She has already been highlighted as an artist to watch by many people and it is easy to see why.
This solo performer manages to captivate an audience with only her voice and her piano. Her live shows highlight her versatility as she moves between Western and Arabic-influenced singing styles. The result is simply sublime. Seriously, her music is stunning. Stop reading this and just listen to her music. Now!