Page 34 - Media Coverage Book - 75th Aldeburgh Festival 2024

One of 2023’s real finds: a UK-based, US-born soul singer blessed with a voice that’s equal parts
Marvin Gaye and David Ruffin and writes killer songs to boot. His debut album Come Around and
Love Me is great; live, it’s even more evident that Ngonda is very much the real deal.

UK tour begins 15 April Brighton Concorde 2

Sampha

A huge one-off London show in the wake of Sampha’s unexpected but triumphant comeback.
Arriving six years after his Mercury prize-winning debut, Lahai was one of 2023’s highlights, as
rich and rewarding a musical account of a writer’s block-fuelled existential crisis as you could wish
to hear.

26 April London Alexandra Palace

Lil Yachty

Artistic shift … Lil Yachty. Photograph: Scott Dudelson/Getty Images
Lil Yachty executed a remarkable artistic shift in 2023: from purveyor of featherweight, TikTok-
friendly “bubblegum trap” to releasing the critically acclaimed Let’s Start Here, on which hip-hop
collides with psychedelic soul, Pink Floyd-influenced interludes and atmospheric shoegazey rock.
How he squares the two polarities of style onstage remains to be seen.

UK tour begins 29 April London OVO Arena Wembley

Olivia Rodrigo

The solitary artist to join the upper echelons of multi-million-selling pop in recent years brings her
second album, the chart-topping pop-punk influenced Guts – its contents designed, she says, for
“people to be able to scream in a crowd” – on tour: expect scenes of frothing, angsty teen
pandemonium.

UK tour begins 3 May, Manchester Co-op Live

Jon Savage – The Secret Public: How LGBTQ Resistance Shaped

Popular Culture 1955-1979
From England’s Dreaming to 1966: The Year the Decade Exploded, Jon Savage’s books are always
a treat. Weighty, meticulously researched histories packed with super-sharp original analysis, they
invariably shed new light on their subjects. His take on queer culture’s impact on pop has been a
long time coming, but will almost undoubtedly be worth the wait.
6 June