We don’t talk much about Finland here at Dork, but we should. For example, did you know it has the second most northerly capital city in the world, beaten only by Reykjavik in Iceland? Or that it has the fourth largest lake in Europe? Or even that Helsinki hosts a three-day boutique music festival in a disused power plant?
Perhaps unsurprisingly it’s the last one of those points which we’re focussing on here at Dork Towers. Flow Festival has been running for nearly 20 years and has established itself as one of the best and most environmentally friendly festivals in Europe (It’s one of the world’s first carbon-neutral festivals, dontcha know). We’ve picked our five of the best artists playing the festival to give you a taste of what to expect once you get there.
Caroline Polachek
New York singer, songwriter and producer Caroline Polachek has had a hell of a year. Her second studio album ‘Desire, I Want to Turn Into You’ was Really Very Good Indeed, as shown by the critical acclaim and sold-out tour that accompanied it. 2023 has also seen Caroline headlining her first ever festival (Wide Awake in London’s Brockwell park) and smashing sets at festivals including Glastonbury and Primavera Sound. Impeccable pop music with an at-times operatic vocal range – what’s not to love?
Christine and the Queens
Christine and the Queens has been treading his own path since the release of his debut album way back in 2014. Pop music in the loosest sense of the word, Chris has always used music as a way to explore deeper themes of gender and identity. It’s an approach which has paid off in spades, with Chris joining the likes of David Bowie and Grace Jones in curating the Southbank Centre’s annual Meltdown Festival this summer. His live show is similarly eclectic, part electro-pop and part performance art, but all stitched together in his inimitable style.
Wizkid
It’s hard to believe now, but back when Wizkid first collaborated with Drake in 2016, Afrobeats was a genre without much global recognition. Even after the massive success of ‘One Dance’, Wizkid, and Afrobeats more generally, was considered by many to be a flash in the pan. A massive range of artists have proven that short-sighted conclusion wrong time and time again in the years since, but Wizkid remains the genre’s global trailblazer and one of the biggest names to come out of Nigerian music.
Shygirl
Existing in the same world as experimental producers including Sega Bodega and Arca, Shygirl’s experimental rap music is like nothing else around. Shifting from garage to Industrial to R&B, sometimes all on the same song, it’s all tied together with some of the most *ahem* raunchy lyrics we at Dork have heard in some time. Probably not one to put on at a family birthday party, but a perfect festival soundtrack.
Amyl and The Sniffers
Australian garage-punk outfit Amyl and The Sniffers are quite simply one of the best live acts around. That’s been true since we at Dork first saw them way back in 2018, when they had so few songs that they struggled to find something to play for an encore. Since then they’ve released two brilliant albums, expanded their sound, and just generally upped the ante every time we’ve seen them. Oh – and they’ve got a few more songs to play with now, too.
Flow Festival takes place in Helsinki, Finland, from 11th-13th August. You can find the full line-up (and buy tickets) on their website now.
