Sónar CCCB 2021 marks a return to Sónar’s roots in more ways than one, with an spectacular line-up squarely focused on the most innovative and exciting voices in contemporary music, many of whom co-exist seamlessly between the underground and the mainstream.
 
Unarguably embodying this spirit is UK producer Koreless, who will perform the first show in support of Agor, his long-awaited debut album at Sónar CCCB, and whose unique vision of electronic music has led to remixes and production duties for the likes of FKA Twigs and Caribou.
 
Similarly in a league of her own is South London’s Tirzah, whose heartfelt,  lo-fi productions serve as the perfect hazy backdrop for her confessional kitchen-sink soul.
 
Yet more critically acclaimed artists performing at Sónar CCCB include Leon Vynehall Live; whose recent Rare Forever LP works as a sonic description of the current state of UK dance music - from Jazz to ambient, to post-dubstep club bangers; and Space Afrika, the Manchester duo who reconstruct the legacy of UK electronica through the lens of Black-British experience, filling in the spaces erased by history along the way. Another artist bringing a fresh perspective to dance music is Object Blue, whose deconstructed rave has taken over dancefloors around the world from Sónar Hong Kong to Krakow’s Unsound festival and beyond.

Sónar CCCB also presents one of the most unlikely sensations of lockdown, the duo formed by French 70’s folk doyenne Emmanuelle Parrenin and Detlef Weinrich aka Toulouse Low Trax. They’ll be performing their collaborative LP ‘Jours de Grève’, a restless masterpiece of dub folk and psychedilia, joined on stage by saxophonist Quentin Rollet (Nurse with Wound, The Red Krayola).
 
Performing live, and further blurring the line between pop and experimentation will be Il Quadro di Troisi, an enchanting and timeless synthpop duo formed by two of the leading figures in techno and experimental italian music of the last decade, who wish to remain unnamed.
 
Other established and upcoming national talents include the return of Galician avant-pop star BFlecha, the West-African rhythm inspired R&B of Barcelona’s Bikôkô, the standard-bearer for a Spanish take on Hyperpop Rakky Ripper, and two artists exploring the sonority and possibilities of the female voice; the Basque language folk songs of Verde Prato, and Barcelona’s Marina Herlop.
 
Other innovative artists from the local and international scene include German multi-instrumentalist and alumn of the Sónar+D X Factory Berlin Artist in Residence program Die Wilde Jagd, a live show from Principe Records’ legendary beat mangler DJ Nigga Fox, the collaborative live Trance AV project from ETM and Arj0na performing under the moniker of Palica, a new project from John Talabot’s Hivern Discs stable Iro Aka, Sau Poler presenting his debut album, and an especially exciting debut from Cora Novoa and the Artefacts a new project created in collaboration with Sónar,  Barcelona’s Taller de Musics and Acción Cultural Española.
 
In addition to the live performances, Sónar CCCB will also host a number of exclusive video performances and capsules, created specifically for the event. Created in locations  around the world, and spanning a range of genres and disciplines, such as Yeule, from London, in partnership with Somerset House Studios, and from Berlin, JASSS b2b Cem featuring Harriet Davey AV set, in partnership with Factory Berlin. Full details of the capsules will be announced soon.
 
A large part of the live performances, dj sets and video capsules, will also make up SónarCCCB’s digital program: recorded and streamed by our broadcast partner betevé, and free to watch at cccb.sonar.es during the event. Watch from wherever in the world you are, here.