The next wave of confirmations is here: African high-life sounds with hip-hop beats, indie folk imported from Sweden, refined songwriting in a wide variety of styles from both surprising and promising solo artists.

We begin with Ata Kak, one of the Hiplife pioneers who invented the genre in Ghana a quarter of a century ago and were responsible for its rise in popularity in half of Africa. With groovy bass lines, crisp, uplifting beats and raw lo-fi vocals, Ata Kak recreates the humid atmosphere of a karaoke bar in Accra, adding a dash of surrealism to the mix.  

The British singer-songwriter Billie Marten (photo) is also a child of the summer with her own style of dreamy ambience. The warm folk of her new album "Feeding Seahorses By Hand" is at times melancholic, but deeply relaxed and infused with a soothing warmth throughout.

Tom Fleming ex-singer of the Wild Beasts, said of his first solo single as One True Pairing: "It's a love song, or as close as I'll ever want to get to one". It's about failing and rising up again. Envisioning new summits after a descent. And that's exactly how the neon-coloured synth rock sounds.

Sebastian Plano's music is also electronically enriched, but rather in the ethereal style of Nils Frahm, who mastered Plano's debut "Impetus" six years ago. Contemporary chamber music that transcends ambient and classical composition, not only acknowledging transitions between genres with prolonged fermatas - but also exhibiting a fascination of elaborate ideas.

Tshegue, on the other hand, are located exactly at the other end of the musical spectrum. Wacky percussion from Paris collides here with the wildly stuttering phrasing of Faty Sy Savanet, who met her comrade-in-arms Nicolas Dacunha by chance only a few years ago. The resulting unbridled power is perhaps one of the most delightful coincidences of the younger DIY generation in France.

After a successful feature with the Austrian producer Filous, the German pop autodidact LissA has taken  songwriting into her own hands, equipped with only guitar and vocals and without the pressure of success and compromises. The musical versatility at the heart of her songwriting is clearly inspired not only by indie and folk, but also by classical and electronic music. 

For The Gardener & The Tree, a holiday in Sweden was a perfect getaway – not just a creative escape from the daily grind but also an opportunity to reflect and recharge. The unique warmth of the swiss five-piece‘s indie-folk is born of a rollercoaster ride of emotions, from the initial chord or melody, to the score captured on paper, culminating in their brilliant performance onstage.

Multifaceted sounds from all corners of the globe - and the lineup is far from complete.

All further confirmations at a glance: Jungle by Night | A-WA | Shey Baba | Johannes Motschmann Trio | Portico Quartet | MOTTRON | Black Country, New Road | Féfé & Leeroy | Beatrich | Gato Preto | Robot Koch & String Quartet | Brutus | Rosborough | Islandman | Amanda Tenfjord | Emma Steinbakken | iris | Pizzagirl | Chaos Chaos | Mayumi Kanagawa & Giuseppe Guarrera | Ivan Skanavi & Joel Blido | Alfred Chen | Johanna Ruppert | Deep Glaze | Platon Karataev | Teepee | On-The-Go | The Bad Tones | ba. | Kai Schumacher | Mikey Mike | Lisa Pac | Noisy Pots | Summer & The GIANTESS | JUVIL | Cascade Lakes | Hunney Pimp | Bandit Bandit | Louis Baker | Linn Stern | The Hormones | Everyone You Know | Thelma Plum | Do Nothing| LEJO | Edwin Hosoomel