Every festival likes to call their current lineup the biggest yet but when it comes to Beyond The Valley, that may actually be true. In its sixth year, the Victorian festival has delivered a hearty lineup mixing hip-hop legends Tyler The Creator and Skepta with dance heroes like Green Velvet and Honey Dijon.
Fans immediately jumped at the chance to soak up the lineup with all the tickets snapped up as soon as they went on sale. It’s the first time festival organisers have achieved that marking Beyond The Valley 2019/20 as a triumphant moment.
There are artists playing this year who are well-acquainted with the festival like Skepta and Snakehips while others like The Veronicas and Tyler will be performing for the first time.
All the artists will be assisting in saying goodbye to the 2010s and welcoming in the roaring 2020s which is going to be a moment in itself. If you were lucky enough to get a ticket, then these are the artists that we reckon define this year’s lineup. If not, then read and salivate.
RÜFÜS DÜ SOL
RÜFÜS DÜ SOL are heading home for the summer after bringing Solace to overseas festivals in their warmer months. The Aussie trio are no strangers to headlining an Australian festival. Their soaring electronica is perfect for nighttime celebrations. From the howling synths of ‘No Place’ to the wistful beats of ‘Innerbloom’ you can expect this one is going to send goosebumps all over the body.
Tyler, The Creator
It’s been a minute since Tyler, The Creator has visited the country. In 2015, he was due to tour but it was canned after he was reportedly banned from the country. A grown Tyler is set to return having completed the best work of his career in the past four years. He delivered the introspective Flower Boy and, this year, he gave us IGOR. It’s his most cohesive, confident set, blending ’80s funk with modern rap and RnB influences. You already know that ‘EARFQUAKE’ is going to be a year-defining singalong.
Cub Sport
Cub Sport began the year with the release of their most confident LP yet so it’s only fair that they close it out with a victory lap. From overseas tours to sold-out home shows, the band have had a busy year promoting the album. They already clocked a top 30 spot in last year’s triple j Hottest 100 with the album’s first single ‘Sometimes’ and given the success of ‘Video’ and their beautiful cover of Billie Eilish’s ‘When The Party’s Over’, it’s likely they’ll be getting more love not long after Beyond The Valley. If you’re ready to get in your feels and dance it out, there’s no better place to be than a Cub Sport set.
Green Velvet
Beyond The Valley always delivers a stellar electronic contingent and it doesn’t get much better than Chicago techno legend Green Velvet. He’s nearing his third decade of music making and yet he’s still delivering some of the most experimental, challenging sets around. This year, he’s been dropping a bevvy of bass-ratling jams, working with everyone from Bristol producer Eats Everything to Greek up-and-comer Mihalis Safaris. Even if you’ve seen the green-haired mind-bender on his previous visits to the country, you know you’re going to get something different this time around.
Floating Points (Live)
There are a number of electronic sets you have to see regardless of whether you’re a fan of the genre or not. Manchester producer and DJ Floating Points has crafted one of those. Combining the organic and the synthetic, he fuses everything from experimental jazz to anthemic rock. It amounts in a climactic set that often starts gentle and expands into a rattling fury of instruments. New drops ‘LesAlpx’ and ‘Coorabell’ suggest he’s in a bass-heavy mode at the moment which is going to make for some pretty affecting late-night listening.
Honey Dijon
Speaking of bass, Honey Dijon is going to rattle the chest with her Beyond The Valley set. The Chicago producer pays tribute to her house roots but has also become known for her visionary production, fusing soul and world sounds. She lives in New York now where she’s a staple of the club and fashion scene there, curating the sorts of parties that everyone who is somebody needs to be at. Honey Dijon is a strong trans-rights activist and has cautioned “straight white men” about “fuck[ing] up the party” before. Leave any bro-tendencies behind before entering Honey Dijon’s kingdom.
Mallrat
Mallrat may have only dropped two tracks this year but she’s having a life-changing 2019. She packed up and moved to LA, putting the final touches on her Driving Music EP due for release next month. By the time Beyond The Valley rolls around that EP will be swirling around the heads of many in this country. Lead-single ‘Charlie’ has already topped the triple j airplay charts and is looking like a strong Hottest 100 contender, particularly given ‘Groceries’’ top 10 showing last year. Prepare for sincere pop songs often delivered with a smirk when she returns home for the summer festival season.
Skepta
In 2015, Skepta flew in via helicopter to Beyond The Valley, causing absolute chaos with ‘Shutdown’. Four years later and the grime legend has become a strong festival favourite here. From A$AP Rocky to Pharell, he’s made a bunch of very famous allies over the past few years. Despite going international, his 2019 record Ignorance Is Bliss was a nod to his British roots tapping J Hus and Nafe Smallz for the project. Full of filthy, hard-hitting beats, Skepta will keep his set sweaty.
Snakehips
When Snakehips first played Beyond The Valley, they had just released ‘All My Friends’. The song went onto become their biggest hit and the singalong that year will go down in the festival’s history. Now the British duo return having worked with Zayn, Anne-Marie and Jeremih while also dropping official remixes for Sam Smith, Kehlani and Khalid. There’s plenty of material for them to draw from and any set they deliver is a genre-hopping trip through modern styles.
The Veronicas
Well, well, well. The Veronicas have finally scored a long-overdue New Year’s festival set thanks to the revival of ‘Untouched’. They already gave Splendour In The Grass a roof-raising rendition this year during Allday’s set but there’s plenty more where that came from. Along with their new Allday collaboration ‘Restless’, the Brisbane duo have more than a decade of pop gold up their sleeve. From their Max Martin-penned debut single ‘4Ever’ to edgy new cut ‘Think Of Me’, The Veronicas are one of the finest pop acts this country has produced and any set they give is a hit-filled scorcher.
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Beyond the Valley will kick off December 28th, 2019, keeping the party going until the new year is well and truly rung in on January 1st 2020. This year, the festival is being held in the very lush Lardner Park, roughly 90 minutes drive out of Melbourne. Head here for the full lineup.
