We delve into some highlights of the Cardiff festival's stacked 2025 lineup.
Adult DVD by Lindsay Melbourne | Words: Marty Hill
If you sat out all of the summer festival season and just re-emerged in time for Sŵn, you wouldn't be far off catching up on the year's buzziest acts. The three-day, multi-venue festival returns to Cardiff next month with a programme stacked with some of the most interesting new acts from Wales and beyond. Gruff Rhys has written some of the biggest and best songs in the history of Welsh music, Squid released one of the most impressive albums of the year back in February and Gurriers are one of the most impressive live bands on the planet. Oh, and wing! and The Orchestra (For Now) are both recent winners of the prestigious Green Man Rising competition.
You know all this, though, it goes without saying that those sets will all be excellent. To fill out your weekend in between the litany of obvious highlights, here are five more of our favourite acts from the lineup that you won't want to miss…
Adult DVD
When they headlined the Rising Stage on the Friday of Green Man this year, you could be mistaken for thinking Adult DVD were the biggest name on the bill. Their crowd was at least doubled by Wunderhorse's early exit from the neighbouring Mountain Stage and the Leeds outfit's name was subsequently inescapable for the rest of the weekend. There's a lot of really interesting stuff on the bill across the weekend, but in terms of sheer fun you'd struggle to find anything that can better Adult DVD's off-kilter synth pop.
Casual Smart
Cardiff's own Casual Smart have been Hard of Hearing favourites from day one and should be caught on their home turf, especially as the band have spoken plenty about how much Cardiff and it's music means to them. Their intricate arrangement and ability to toy with tempo recall the best of Black Country, New Road and their ability to inject grand, emotional moments into previously small songs feels very Big Thief. If you're going to a new music festival in Cardiff, you've got to see the best new band in Cardiff. That band is Casual Smart.
Cubzoa
There's every chance you've seen Jack Wolter live before, either with his band Penelope Isles or on guitar for CMAT. He heads to Cardiff as Cubzoa, a moniker under which he creates his own music and visual art. 'Choke', the lead single from the upcoming debut LP, is a really impressive piece of sunny bedroom pop, whilst some of the earlier tracks in his catalogue draw on much folkier influences. Having spent the summer playing with perhaps the breakthrough act of the year and touring an album which looks more likely than not to win the Mercury Prize, Wolter has put together quite the CV of late, and Sŵn presents a really exciting opportunity to hear what else he has been working on.
Marsy
First thing's first — and I appreciate that this is a pretty low bar — but Marsy do exist. There's very little about the band and literally no music available online at present. They played one of the standout sets of Sounds from the Other City back in May, though, and are well worth catching here. They're the sort of charming, slacker indie band that are always going to go down well in this environment. Seeing them live is quite literally the only way to find out if they're up your street or not and, given the festival's hit rate over the years, missing them doesn't seem worth the risk.
TTSSFU
TTSSFU is of the most interesting projects coming out of Manchester's resurgent music scene. September saw Duvet play their final show, so it's full speed ahead TTSSFU now for Tasmin Stephens. Given that she's already gotten herself a deal with Partisan Records, that is very exciting news. Until very recently, Stephens was playing her scuzzy shoegaze songs in Manchester basements and recording in her bedroom. All of a sudden, she's working with the likes of Chris Ryan (Just Mustard, Newdad) and supporting the likes of Mannequin Pussy and Kim Deal. 'Blown', the EP she released in August, is a clear step forward and you can't help but think that the amount of relatively intimate shows that she has left is numbered.
