By their own admission, Meadows In The Mountains don’t market themselves as having the kind of all-star line up that would include Adele and Coldplay. Since its inception six years ago, Meadows’ focus has always been on creating a harmonious vibe between the peaks of Bulgaria’s Rhodopes mountains, between earth and reveller through beauty, awareness and optimism.
The organisers have (and always will) remained steadfast in their determination not to stray from what makes Meadows so special, but this year’s line up is undeniably strong and will bring with it new revellers to join Meadows’ core crowd.
2009 Mercury Prize winner Speech Debelle features among the live acts under a new guise, now working closely with Miss Baby Sol. The latter is a London based songstress, who has worked as a backing / session vocalist for the likes of Paloma Faith and Florence And The Machine. As well as material from their collaboration, revellers may well hear hits from Debelle’s memorable albums ‘Speech Therapy’ and ‘Freedom Of Speech’.
Cosmo Sheldrake is yet another Brit whose name features high on the line up. There isn’t much Cosmo hasn’t done already (he’s only in his mid 20s!), having composed and produced sound for screen and stage, learned to play over 30 instruments and supported the likes of Johnny Flynn and Bombay Bicycle Club. It’s an undoubtedly impressive CV and he’s bound to bring his relentless creativity and unpredictability to the fore.
Londoner Chelou will also be conquering the mountains, where he’ll likely be taking us through his third EP, ‘Don’t Hate On Me’. His first two albums, ‘The Quiet’ and ‘Mothership’ have already turned heads, featuring in a number of high profile magazines and websites.
They’ve picked an impressive bunch of DJs, too – including Eglo’s hugely acclaimed Henry Wu, grime/garage spinner Last Japan, Thugfucker and Anna Wall, the DJ with arguably the most strings to her bow. She’s a producer, deejay, radio show presenter, writer, A&R and promoter… the list goes on. She’ll be playing right up in the skies, under the stars, into the late hours.
It’s a small but perfectly formed line up, and if history is anything to go by, the Meadow’s curatorial team seems to get it bang on every year. Why should this year be any different?
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Meadows In The Mountains runs between June 10th – 13th.
Words: Milo Wasserman
Photo Credit: Aron Klein
