Our overview of this years Sŵn festival in Cardiff can be found here however Keith Goldhanger has not been able to forget some of the results of trawling through over one hundred acts that appeared this year that were seen for the first time, the third time or missed entirely. Here’s a few recommendations for those looking for something that may not have reached your attention yet.

We can’t move on from Cardiff’s Sŵn festival without highlighting some of the new music discovered, not just over the weekend in one of the ten venues across the city but also during the weeks leading up to the Festival before the inevitable timetable clashes occurred, or we recognised that we lacked the stamina required to run around for three days continuously.

Here’s our magnificent seven then. Seven new pieces of music by previously unknown acts we hope to see and hear more of over the next few months and years.

3l3d3p – Pronounced simply ldp, Marina Thompson from Los Angeles appeared mid afternoon in the small venue of Clwb Ifor Bach on Saturday evening and filled the room with some brutal beats and flashing lights, providing an energetic performance not too many other acts could match over the weekend. It’s digital, it’s hardcore, you can dance your socks off to it and will literally take your breath away.

Moonchild Sanelly – This track was on the set list. About three tracks from the end. However not hearing this played out was a huge disappointment…..
Sanelisiwe Twisha is from South Africa and has recently been on tour with Self Esteem playing inside some of the large venues scattered across the UK. A recent throat infection may have been a problem during her Sŵn performance…. who knows ? This song is lovely and the video is cool as heck.

Aki Oke – Two brothers from Kent who make party-friendly happy hardcore dance music. Cheesy at times, a bit too Eurodisco at times too but inside the Tiny Rebel venue on a Friday evening their music provided the perfect soundtrack for those wanting to start their Friday night earlier than the rest of Cardiff. This track, The Function, has been played on repeat this month by one of us and hopefully we’ll get the chance to see more of Aki Oke as the next few months pass by.

Babymorocco – Playing at 1am is perfect during the summertime if you have a tent nearby you can fall into and your sleeping patterns have wandered off on their own, but we were beaten by our own enthusiasm on the Saturday night and never experienced this live. More weird electronic dance music that we imagine sounds ace really loud can be put aside for another time. Babymorocco (Moroccan born – English singer and record producer) would have been great in a field, but in a tiny basement in a big warehouse after over twenty other shows with a belly full of beer and aching bones ………..Still, it won’t stop one of us from dancing around the kitchen at home until the next banger arrives. An evening listening to Babymorocco is highly recommended if you can’t get to a show.

PISS – More top quality music from overseas. This time Canada. Piss will enthrall you if you get the chance to witness live. Their brutal, tense, angry noise is an experience everyone needs to witness. Lots of yelling as well as polite chatter from the singer who warns us about any  forthcoming explicit mentions of sexual violence and to make sure we all look after one another. Their live performance of this track Blocking A Scene You Can’t Remember was certainly the standout moment at Sŵn that will captivate audiences when they return to the UK in 2026. Piss are loud, brutal, compelling ,thrilling and slightly disturbing and need to be seen.

A Thousand Mad Things – This London-based duo transported some of us back to the early 1980s when bands such as Depeche Mode, Soft Cell and The Human League were still unknown to the viewers of Top Of The Pops. A debut EP was made available a few weeks ago that sits just as comfortably with these acts as anything we’ve come across this century.

Essence Martins – An ex- professional tennis player with a love for Destiny’s child performed inside the lovely Boho venue during Sŵn whilst we were at another show, however that didn’t stop recently released Quiet & Perfect spinning around our heads for three days.

Milkincrisis  and AKA have nothing released at the current time, however the former appear to have plans for releasing something before the year is over.

We could increase this list with tracks that have already been part of our lives this year such as Modern Man by Morn or anything by The Sick Man of Europe, My First Time, Grandma’s House, Slate, Dog Race, Benefits, Gurriers, Deadletter, Punchbag, Jessica Winter, Adult DVD or Gans.

The strength of this year’s Sŵn festival matched previous year’s events and …well, you know where you need to be in twelve months time if you’ve not visited this multi venue event yet.

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Words by Keith Goldhanger. More writing by Keith on Louder Than War can be found at his author’s archive. You can also find Keith on Facebook , Instagram and Bluesky