Over a thousand musical acts from across the globe descend on Austin this week to perform for a slew of music fans and industry professionals alike. In a way, the official SXSW stamp of approval should be enough to convince you of every name’s merits, but all festival veterans know – there’s just too much to see. From buzzy UK indie bands to Indonesian fusion acts and Italian electro-jazz singers, this curated list names 35 musical acts the Chronicle music team has highlighted in our own SXSW schedules. Watch out for acts slated to perform at midnight or later, as they’re listed here with the following day’s date, matching the SXSW schedule (even though the showcase will have started the day prior).
Ace Park
Monday 10, 10:20pm, Vaquero Taquero
Thursday 13, 9:45pm, Empire Control Room
Partially named after his local South Park, H-town rapper Ace Park crafts melodic, old-school hip-hop. Citing fellow Southern royalty like Lil Wayne and Curren$y in the same breath as Compton’s Kendrick, whose nasally voice Ace slightly resembles, the MC taps hometown locales (“DEAR HOUSTON”) and inner turmoil (“Going Through It”) in his poetry. Following 2021 debut Call a Spade a Spade, the artist last teamed with Mi$fit Chris for the 2023 joint EP Mi$fits in the Park. – Carys Anderson
Ali
Thursday 13, 1:20am, Las Perlas
Saturday 15, 11pm, Lamberts
Last March, a band from Indonesia made the 10,000-mile trek to SXSW with clay instruments mostly intact and stole the show. Lair thus primed the pump for this landing. Psych-funk trio Ali arrives somewhere between the Western twang of Colombian SX breakouts Balthvs and the Sixties spy mojo of Dutch-Turkish ravers Altın Gün. Frontman/bassist Arswandaru sings in Arabic while guitarist Absar Lebeh wails sizzling Middle Eastern mysticism, and John Paul beats it all home. Beg them for 2023’s Malaka after the show. – Raoul Hernandez
Amiture Music
Thursday 13, 11:50pm, Hotel Vegas
The influence of New York creative Barbara Ess’ experimental melodies and shadowy photographs is evident on the murky, exploratory soundscape Amiture Music creates. The Brooklyn-founded quartet had its genesis as a solo project by frontman Jack Whitescarver in 2018. Since then, it’s metamorphosed into different forms, with the project taking shape at SXSW 2024 as duo Amiture, led by Whitescarver and guitarist Coco Goupil. Latest 2024 release Mother Engine’s rugged, guitar-led avant-garde mood contrasts 2021 debut album The Beach‘s synth-soaked, hazy club ether. – Catalina Perez
Anycia
Friday 14, 9:35pm, ACL Live at the Moody Theater
Anycia appears at SXSW courtesy of Rolling Stone, whose Future of Music showcase has brought big names like Faye Webster and Peso Pluma to Austin in recent years. The booking makes sense. The Atlanta trap artist dropped her debut full-length PRINCESS POP THAT – featuring fellow ATL favorite Latto, Luh Tyler, Cash Cobain, and KARRAHBOOO – and guested on songs by Emotional Oranges and Flo Milli in a monumental 2024. Catch her at ACL Live before she headlines the Moody Center someday soon. – Carys Anderson
Arsun
Friday 14, 11pm, Saxon Pub
Arsun Sorrenti consciously revels in the vintage sounds of his native New York City, with last year’s head-turning debut LP Babe I Hear Thunder in Your Heart managing to hang heavy on the Sixties anchors of Lou Reed and Bob Dylan with a dash of Scott Walker croon. The 24-year-old comes by the suave throwback aesthetic honestly, his family rife with fashion photographers including father Mario Sorrenti. Yet Arsun continues to evolve his own distinct sound from the brew of influences with an intoxicating allure and a raw dark edge twisted into his earnest romanticism. – Doug Freeman
ASOBOiSM
Thursday 13, 1:10am, Cuatro Gato
Thursday 13, 8pm, Elysium
Yokohama-born singer-songwriter, rapper, and producer ASOBOiSM slips between Japanese and English in her music, which places a seasoned hip-hop flow over deceptively pleasant J-pop hooks. Case in point, a trilling piano melody carries popular single “TOTSUKA,” which nears a million Spotify streams, while “Whateva,” which appears on the same 2020 album OOTD, plays more like a heartfelt love song. The artist’s latest effort, glitchy Our Shame collab “Snow in Osaka,” arrived in September. – Carys Anderson
BLACK FONDU
Thursday 13, 3pm, Radio Day Stage at Rivian Park
Thursday 13, 10pm, British Music Embassy @ Palm Door on Sixth
Friday 14, 9:20pm, Swan Dive Patio
Maybe I’ve got an American grass-is-greener mindset, but there’s always seemed to be more genre crossover in the UK music scene than here in the famously compartmentalized States. Take 21-year-old Ghana-born, London-based artist BLACK FONDU, for example, whose experiments in grime have earned him opening slots for English post-punks Shame and techno-punk group Fat Dog – though Detroit rap crew HiTech and NOLA punks Special Interest are also fans. The young artist’s accent peeks through the glitchy electronic sounds in “ANOTHER DOMESTIC” and “SB 1 3,” currently his only streamable songs. Perhaps these SXSW shows will bring style agnosticism across the pond. – Carys Anderson
blood club
Wednesday 12, 8pm, Elysium
Saturday 15, 10pm, Las Perlas
blood club marries darkwave synths and dispassionate vocals, immersing listeners in a tenebrous, lovelorn haze. Without having any music written, vocalist Jesse Flores, guitarist Jorge Calderon, and bassist Daniel Vela booked their first show ever in 2022. Now three years later, the Windy City trio’s haunting disposition fosters a home for alt Latinos, delivering bilingual lyricism in a post-punk aural envelope. Latest single “fall for me” finds hopelessness clinging onto Flores’ lips as they spill yearning, heartsick contemplations against a moody but danceable guitar riff and propulsive drumset beat. – Catalina Perez
Brennan Wedl
Thursday 13, 12:20pm, Valhalla
Thursday 13, 10pm, Continental Club
Saturday 15, 10pm, Saxon Pub
I love the way Brennan Wedl sings the titular word in her latest single, “Heartland.” Along with a minor finger-picked chord, it punctuates every verse with a twang that doesn’t quite sing, but instead feels a little flat, a little off. Unvarnished voices have always been a calling card of music, country or otherwise – from George Jones to Bruce Springsteen, who the Nashville singer-songwriter cites as an influence on this track. Other recent singles – like the electric “Scorpio,” released via legendary DIY label Kill Rock Stars – signal Wedl’s equal love for indie rock. The alt-country renaissance continues. – Carys Anderson
Cardinals
Tuesday 11, 11:10pm, Antone’s
Thursday 13, 11pm, The Velveeta Room
With a Cork, Ireland pedigree and a post-punk Bandcamp tag, it’d be easy to compare Cardinals to Fontaines D.C. But even counting Dublin City’s favorite breakouts’ stadium-ready latest LP Romance, the analogy doesn’t work. Cardinals sling much more approachable alt-rock than Fontaines’ brooding soundscapes. Sirius XMU discovery “Twist and Turn” opens with a melodic bassline and ghostly guitar accents, sure, but where Grian Chatten raps and groans, Euan Manning sings like an accentless crooner, and single “Unreal” chimes with a sing-along chorus. Their sonics may differ, but expect this fivepiece to chart a similar trajectory after SXSW. – Carys Anderson
DAP the Contract
Thursday 13, 11pm, Coconut Club Rooftop
DAP the Contract has been grinding for years. A classically trained pianist beginning at age 4, the Afrobeat artist – born in Lagos, based in New York – dropped the acclaimed mixtape Goodbye for Never in 2014. The next year, after winning a competition produced by Converse, he found himself in the studio (Abbey Road, to be exact) with Mark Ronson. Now with nine self-produced solo projects under his belt, DAP continues to make vibey hip-hop, from the vibrant energy of October single “Fàáji” to the more low-key atmospherics of last month’s “iron sight,” featuring Raytheboffin, Tim Lyre, and Iver Rivers. – Carys Anderson
Daniela Pes
Tuesday 11, 7pm, International Nights at Rivian Park
Wednesday 12, 9pm, Central Presbyterian Church
Hailing from Gallura on the Italian island of Sardinia, Daniela Pes doesn’t easily fit under any umbrella. Trained to sing jazz but enamored of atmospheric electronic pop, the award-winning singer and songwriter doesn’t conform to anyone’s expectations on her 2023 debut SPIRA. Creamy swathes of synthesizers frame minimalist beats and her aching soprano, beds on which the elegant melodies rest. Sitting somewhere between Portishead (whose Beth Gibbons Pes sometimes resembles) and a church service hosted by Giorgio Moroder, Pes’ music will be right at home in the warm acoustics of Central Presbyterian’s much-beloved musical sanctuary. – Michael Toland
Dead Gowns
Wednesday 12, 11pm, The Crystal Room @ The Driskill
Saturday 15, 9:15pm, Hotel Vegas at Volstead
The freshly released debut LP from Dead Gowns, It’s Summer, I Love You, and I’m Surrounded by Snow, broils with both intimacy and aggressiveness. Genevieve Beaudoin’s voice carries a longing that can unfold delicately in reflection, or howl restlessly with desire, as her songs tune eclectically through patiently strummed indie folk and driving electric riffs. The album floats with tentative edge, as if it could evaporate or explode at any moment, but throughout, the Maine musician pulls poetic moments from small details and daydreams, spinning them into a greater tapestry that transforms her want into growth and self-realization. – Doug Freeman
DOPE LEMON
Friday 14, 1am, Parish
This SX, DOPE LEMON brings sunshine, salt, and surf to Austin. The Australian artist born Angus Stone debuted the moniker with Honey Bones in 2016, creating easy listening music across three more LPs since. With soft and introspective guitar melodies, the laid-back “Kids Fallin’ in Love” captures the all-consuming feeling of infatuation in a slow, warm Sunday afternoon kind of way. The songwriter brings the same energy throughout 2022’s Rose Pink Cadillac, making it perfect to listen to while lounging beside Barton Springs or driving down Congress on a sunny day with the windows down. – Angelina Liu
Dutch Interior
Wednesday 12, 12am, The 13th Floor
Thursday 13, 2:35pm, Valhalla
Thursday 13, 9pm, Mohawk indoor
Dutch Interior knows how to illustrate prosaic malaise. In the latest singles off the Los Angeles band’s upcoming album, Moneyball, their two-step-friendly rhythm and compellingly plaintive vocals are electrified by Zeppelin-esque riffs and marching band drums. “Fourth Street,” a deceptively optimistic song about tedium and loneliness, ends with a melodious cacophony of guitar, keys, and distortion that brings home the lyrics’ pent-up feeling. Anything but Blinded by Fame, to play on their last album’s title, Dutch Interior’s pending release – out March 21 – promises an expansion of their sonic palette, tapping into louder colors and bolder expression. Catch a sneak peek while you can. – Caroline Drew
fantasy of a broken heart
Thursday 13, 10:10pm, Hotel Vegas
When not touring with alt-pop breakouts Water From Your Eyes and This Is Lorelei, Al Nardo and Bailey Wollowitz write their own lush compositions, expertly layering vocal harmonies and strings atop indie guitar with the aplomb of two seasoned working musicians. 2024’s Feats of Engineering mostly sparkles like a well-crafted pop album, but a hint of welcome weirdness bubbles underneath – from Nardo’s gruff vocals in “Ur Heart Stops” to the noise freakout at the end of the otherwise easygoing “AFV.” “All I really wanted was a little sensation,” the duo croons in the latter track. These meticulous compositions offer just enough. – Carys Anderson
Fashion Club
Wednesday 12, 11pm, Chess Club
The gothic vocals and rich post-punk textures of 2022 debut Scrutiny offered an easy introduction to Fashion Club, the solo project of Moaning bassist Pascal Stevenson, but the LP didn’t fully clue us into the artist’s breadth of musical interests. In a way, October follow-up A Love You Cannot Shake feels like a do-over. Strings and synths dominate this electronic album, Stevenson’s first release since her gender transition. Avant-pop master Perfume Genius guests on brooding ballad “Forget,” while Stevenson pitches up indie rocker Jay Som’s vocals like a hyperpop chipmunk in the glitchy “Ghost.” In life and in music, the project reminds us, there’s always more to explore. – Carys Anderson
Freak Slug
Wednesday 12, 9:20pm, British Music Embassy @ Palm Door on Sixth Patio
Thursday 13, 11pm, Mohawk indoor
Two distinct sounds define Manchester-born artist Freak Slug. In one, she pairs a unique mix of indie guitar and soft drums with dreamy, introspective vocals to create songs like “Radio” and “Care.” In tracks like “Liquorice” and “Spells,” meanwhile, Xenya Genovese assumes an unapologetic and punchy persona, pulsing bass driving taunts like “I know you miss me when I’m not around.” Entering the music scene in 2019 with a slowed and synthesized cover of Joy Division’s “Disorder,” Freak Slug’s music follows a similar vein best displayed on last year’s I Blow Out Big Candles, a bratty mix of exasperation and mischievousness. – Angelina Liu
Her New Knife
Thursday 13, 12am, Chess Club
Friday 14, 9:30pm, Empire Control Room
Philadelphia shoegazers Her New Knife envelop listeners in a haze of distortion and melancholic melodies. Their latest EP, chrome is lullaby, showcases the band’s dirty, sparkly allure. Intense tracks like “kittyriff” and “purepurepure” mix a lo-fi hum with industrial textures, while “vitamin beauty” offers a more melodic, bubblegrunge sound. The quartet is sure to deliver a genre-spanning performance throughout Austin this week – personally, I can’t wait to get pushed around during the gritty, barely-hanging-on “12r,” and stare into the distance and think about lost love to “douglasland.v1.” – Kyra Bruce
Honeyglaze
Tuesday 11, 2:20pm, Radio Day Stage at Rivian Park
Tuesday 11, 11:20pm, Seven Grand
Thursday 13, 1:05pm, Valhalla
Thursday 13, 10pm, Central Presbyterian Church
saturday 15, 2:40pm, British Music Embassy @ Palm Door on Sixth Patio
Based on the seething 2024 single “Don’t” – which begins with a cool, rolling rhythm and vocalist Anouska Sokolow’s spoken word list of demands to an inconsiderate partner before building to a noisy conclusion – I expected Honeyglaze to follow in a long line of saucy woman-fronted UK bands. Yet, listening to the rest of 2024’s Real Deal, I’d compare this trio to the Last Dinner Party over Wet Leg. Most of the time, Sokolow sings prim and proper, and fits intricate, pretty guitar arpeggios into Tim Curtis’ melodic basslines. These Fat Possum signees offer a crash course in indie rock dynamics. – Carys Anderson
Jazz Re:freshed Outernational
Wednesday 12, 7:30pm, The Velveeta Room
Preserving a tradition for discerning SX-goers, London label Jazz Re:freshed returns to SXSW for its seventh multicultural party. Singer Sofia Grant sets the scene with mellifluous jazz pop from EP Extinction, while Oreglo melds jazz, funk, and hip-hop into a savory instrumental stew. Sun Daughter MADELEINE offers a blend of nu-jazz and progressive electro, and producer corto.alto bends bytes like Aphex Twin on a Chick Corea bender. Summer Pearl sings funky soul with a jazzwise sensibility, while INSXGHT plays mellow jazz in a soul/pop wrapper. As always, the Jazz Re:freshed DJs spin between sets. – Michael Toland
John Francis Flynn
Tuesday 11, 10pm, The Velveeta Room
Wednesday 12, 10pm, St. David’s Historic Sanctuary
Thursday 13, 9pm, The Velveeta Room
Friday 14, 10pm, Swan Dive
Traditional Irish folk music may serve as the foundation for John Francis Flynn’s vision, but the Dublin multi-instrumentalist transforms it into an experimental, evocative experience. On last year’s sophomore LP, Look Over the Wall, See the Sky, Flynn creates a palimpsest of old-time standards by layering unexpected atmospheric tones that tell a contemporary story of his country. The tunes can turn dark and unsettling behind industrial drone sounds, or wash in a whirlwind of psychedelic city sounds that overrun their familiar tin whistle reels, while Flynn’s voice anchors the maelstrom, crooning beautifully haunting ballads. – Doug Freeman
Maruja
Wednesday 12, 10pm, British Music Embassy @ Palm Door on Sixth
Thursday 13, 9:50pm, Hotel Vegas Patio
Bowie would’ve dug Maruja. Blackstar‘s post-jazz divinity flickered across a musical universe banging contemporarily in the UK. Madchester guitarist/singer Harry Wilkinson and bassist Matt Buonaccorsi met at university more than a decade ago and fell in with alto saxist Joe Carroll and now-drummer Jacob Hayes. Debuting domestically March 1 in Seattle, they arrive on the heels of last month’s single “Aon,” building, skronking, screaming follow-up to 2024 EP Connla’s Well, a thrilling chapter of post-punk free verse and Maruja’s longest release yet. “For us, everything comes out of improvisation,” they told Balkanrock in December. – Raoul Hernandez
Mhaol
Friday 14, 12am, The 13th Floor
Friday 14, 9:20pm, Zilker Brewing
“Bored of Men,” “Bisexual Anxiety,” “Period Sex” – the song titles on Mhaol’s 2023 debut Attachment Styles suggest a certain type of sensational, tongue-in-cheek feminism, but amid the (still enjoyable) snark, the Irish post-punks deliver some disquieting revelations. “I don’t always wanna be the bigger person,” singer-drummer Constance Keane sighs in “Nice Guys,” a send-up of faux male benevolence. Last year’s “Pursuit” signals more growth. Abandoning her quirky persona, the vocalist builds from a coo to cry as she narrates her street-walking paranoia: “I thought the shoes that I’m wearing would help me run away from you.” – Carys Anderson
The OBGMs
Tuesday 11, 1am, Swan Dive
Wednesday 12, 10pm, Swan Dive Patio
Friday 14, 1am, Chess Club
Saturday 15, 10:15pm, Empire Control Room
2020’s The Ends, which at turns rumbles with towering bass (“Outsah”) and sails on sing-along group vocals (“All My Friends”), got Toronto punks the OBGMs shortlisted for the Canadian Polaris Music Prize. Mixed with impeccable sheen, 2024 follow-up SORRY, IT’S OVER puts the band’s perfected mix of melodies and aggression on full display. Simon Outhit’s guitar crunches front and center in single “GET UP,” overpowered only by Densil McFarlane’s vocals – it feels like the vocalist is ripping his throat to shreds right in front of you. Shows with PUP, Alexisonfire, and Death from Above co-sign the self-proclaimed “Best live band. Period.” – Carys Anderson
PyPy
Wednesday 12, 12am, Swan Dive
Ten years after debuting with Pagan Day, whose penultimate track “She’s Gone” somehow made its way into an Yves Saint Laurent fashion show, Montreal garage punks PyPy returned in October with Sacred Times, an LP – naturally – featuring a cheeky response track, “She’s Back.” To drive home its futuristic upgrade, guitarist Roy Vucino loses the chugging fuzz for a lighter, staccato approach, though co-vocalist Annie-Claude Deschênes chirps along like no time has passed. Punchy rhythms and a goofball ethos pepper this high-energy comeback. – Carys Anderson
Shallowater
Wednesday 12, 11pm, Low Down Lounge
Sunday 16, 12am, Chess Club
Based in Houston but named after a small town in Lubbock County, self-described “West Texas dirtgaze” trio Shallowater soundtracks life after the dust bowl with melancholy slowcore occasionally shocked to life with scorching post-hardcore. 2023 debut There Is a Well begins with those desolate soundscapes – croaking vocals lead delicate opening combo “Birdshot” and “Angels,” and a mathy guitar line carries “Spin Me to Sleep” – but centerpiece “Nice Things” crashes in with a quick hit of distortion. Band of Horses aren’t the only band on this year’s SX bill with a song called “Laredo.” – Carys Anderson
Shiho Yabuki
Wednesday 12, 7pm, Central Presbyterian Church
New Age music isn’t generally known for its improvisers, but Shiho Yabuki proves the exception. The classically trained keyboardist first composed spontaneously at age 5 and kept up the practice once she acquired synthesizers, helping pioneer the concept of healing music. An early star on the innovative New Age label Hearts of Space with her 1987 debut The Body Is a Message of the Universe, Yabuki continues to soothe and beguile on a long series of ambient releases. Her latest album When Two Rivers Meet contains free improvisations with former Mott the Hoople keyboardist and early electrotraveler Morgan Fisher. – Michael Toland
Skating Polly
Saturday 15, 10pm, Empire Garage
Oklahoma City-born stepsisters Kelli Mayo and Peyton Bighorse – plus Kelli’s brother Kurtis, the drums to her bass and Peyton’s guitar – follow in a long line of kinderwhores, infusing Nineties grunge with squeaky, feminine vocals. Since forming as kids in 2009, the trio has amassed quite a high-profile following, from Exene Cervenka and Brad Wood, who have produced Skating Polly’s albums, to Babes in Toyland, who have taken the band on tour. Still, as they sing on 2023’s “Baby on My Birthday,” Skating Polly’s Southern origins offer a unique twist on the genre: “You don’t know how it feels to be part of a 10-piece hillbilly family.” – Carys Anderson
Sophie Castillo
Wednesday 12, 10pm, Rozco’s
SX’s sponsoring mag Rolling Stone staged a Future of Music installation last fest inside ACL Live at the Moody, popping off Latin superstars including J Noa, Young Miko, and Peso Pluma. London soul shimmy Sophie Castillo could kick off such a stacking, her smooth bilingual come hither both cool and sultry on a cluster of singles since 2020. “So la diosa, mas sabrosa,” she coos on “Diosa,” as delish as she promises. Sade for a Latinx paradigm. – Raoul Hernandez
The Thing
Wednesday 12, 11pm, Elysium
Sunday 16, 1am, Hotel Vegas
The Thing – perhaps it goes without saying – is tongue in cheek. They’ve got the full NYC rock & roll package, from their haircuts to their lyrical stylings, which alternate between fetching directives and self-deprecative stories told in couplet. Catchy guitar riffs and danceable drum fills pull the quartet into the story of rock, from the Kinks to Cage the Elephant. Pumped with boyhood adrenaline and analog vigor, their songs deliver a punch deliciously received in person. A the Thing show is a seriously good time. – Caroline Drew
Tommy Newport
Wednesday 12, 10pm, Antone’s
With a falsetto-driven indie pop rhythm, Tommy Newport rides a dreamy synth wave all the way to SXSW. Born in Manchester, England, and raised in Wichita, Kansas, Newport made his debut in 2018 with Just to Be Ironic. His music, showcased in tracks like “Tangerine” and “Sunset for the Dead,” blends looping bass, soft drums, and catchy riffs to craft stories of infatuation, the good life, and the complex dualities of relationships, all wrapped in his signature vibrant sound. – Angelina Liu
untitled (halo)
Tuesday 11, 4:20pm, Radio Day Stage at Rivian Park
Thursday 13, 10pm, Mohawk indoor
From their nebulous name to their artsy social media presence, a certain enigmatic quality emanates from untitled (halo). The Los Angeles-based quartet, who opened for beloved second wave shoegazers DIIV last year, craft brooding bedroom dream pop; their muted November EP, decidedly not a headbanger, utilizes trip-hoppy, MBV-indebted beats (“sKill isSue,” “that’s honey”) and moody guitar lines (“blunt subconscious,” “emo is good”) to propel boy-girl harmonies like “Time is never on my side/ And if I’m in your thighs/ I think I’d rather die.” – Carys Anderson
VENUS GRRRLS
Wednesday 12, 12am, Las Perlas
Wednesday 12, 11:50pm, Mohawk Indoor
Thursday 13, 4pm, British Music Embassy @ Palm Door on Sixth
Saturday 15, 10:40pm, British Music Embassy @ Palm Door on Sixth Patio
Your Hex Girl prayers have been answered with witchy Leeds grunge quintet VENUS GRRRLS. Modern alternative edge stirs within the band’s incessant flood of guttural riffs and breakneck drums as lead singer Grace Kelly’s powerhouse vocals show no mercy. Bass-heavy and brazen, the group’s latest single “Darla” packs a goth rock punch with a menacing, momentum-building rhythm. Fresh off of a sold-out UK headline tour, the coven from across the pond is a must-watch if you’re looking to get your international rock fix. – Miranda Garza
YHWH Nailgun
Saturday 15, 1:20am, Swan Dive Patio
Fans of David Lynch’s industrial sound design – or even local Font frontman Thom Waddill’s pained vocals – will enjoy YHWH Nailgun, an experimental fourpiece from (where else?) New York City. Quick-hit drums propel the band’s 2022 self-titled EP, where Zack Borzone gasps out abstract imagery and Jack Tobias’ synths go whomp and whee. More recent singles, like “Sickle Walk” and “Penetrator,” keep up the unnerving energy with more bustling percussion and screeching sound samples. You know these guys have a delectably strange live show. – Carys Anderson
This article appears in March 7 • 2025.