Though there are certainly plenty of big-hitters on Mad Cool’s line-up – with Kings Of Leon, Olivia Rodrigo and Nine Inch Nails headlining the 2025 edition of the Madrid festival – elsewhere on the bill you’ll find a host of rising stars.
From up-and-coming names who have already started to prove their main stage mettle, to brand new faces stepping out for the very first time, these are some of the freshest standouts from the festival. Tickets are still on sale here but there’s not long now until the music kicks off, so get a move on!
Luvcat
There’s a smoky, old-timey glamour to much of Luvcat’s music, which takes heaps of inspiration from vintage crooners like Frank Sinatra and the spooky, atmospheric sounds of Tom Waits. As well as spending a lot of time in Paris, Luvcat grew up in Liverpool, where her mum ran a beauty salon, and even the shopping centres filled with women wearing curlers ahead of their big night out have found their way into the mix somehow. Start with hitting play on ‘Dinner @ Brasserie Zédel’ (named in honour of Soho’s pink table-clothed French restaurant) and go from there.
Deadletter
Originally from Yorkshire and now based in South London, post-punks Deadletter have already built up some serious buzz off the back of last year’s debut album ‘Hysterical Strength‘ – a freewheeling slab of honking, fidgeting art-punk. Since it was recorded, saxophonist Poppy Richler has left the group, and it’ll be fascinating to see where they take things next in their newly-rejigged form.
Mychelle
Raised in Hackney, Mychelle dreamed of becoming a basketball player growing up, but in true High School Musical fashion her love of a slam-dunk soon ended up in battle with singing. The music eventually won out. Though studying it at university left her cold, a spontaneous, one-way trip to Paris ended up reigniting Mychelle’s creative spark. Thank goodness for the Eurostar; her debut album ‘Good Days’ (out now) should go down a storm when it hits the summer festival circuit for the first time.
Kingfishr
It has been a pleasant surprise seeing an increasing number of people heartily embracing the joys of traditional Irish folk over the last couple of years, with The Mary Wallopers, Brògeal and Lankum all cultivating fierce followings in alternative circles. The whole thing may officially go mainstream with Limerick trio Kingfishr, who are putting a distinctly poppier spin on proceedings and penning stomping, hooky singalongs perfect for soundtracking the Madrid sunset.
Geordie Greep
Up until recently, most people knew Geordie Greep as the lead singer of the experimental post-punks Black Midi, but he’s since struck out solo after the band suddenly dissolved last year. Though his debut album ‘The New Sound’ isn’t a total departure from the intrinsic weirdness of his former band – you’ll still find plenty of mathy, prog influenced structures here – Greep’s solo material has a far more obvious sense of humour. Frequently inhabiting a kitschy, cartoonish world, and playing the part of a drippingly rich, aging dirtbag with a Broadway-styled croon, it’s brilliantly bizarre from start to finish.
NSQK
While growing up in the Mexican city of Monterrey, Rodrigo Torres – the musician behind NSQK – was obsessed with EDM, influenced by a then-emerging Skrillex and his dubstep-leaning EP ‘Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites’. In the early days, he crafted his own spin on the tried-and-tested dance sound using a barely functioning old computer, but things really started taking off when Torres let go of genre conventions altogether for debut album ‘ROY’ and its brighter, synthier successor ‘ATP’, skillfully hopping between pop, reggaeton, R&B and traditional Mexican music while racking up millions of streams in the process. It should be a huge year.
Blondshell
Currently enjoying the release of her second album ‘If You Asked For A Picture’, Los Angeles’ Blondshell knows her way around a festival stage already – and has been touring extensively since the release of her 2023 breakthrough debut. Spiky guitars, raw emotions and a sharp sense of humour rule in Sabrina Teitelbaum’s music, which draws on nostalgic grunge-rock and recalls ‘90s icons like Hole and Liz Phair – and her excellent second record could be the one that sends her stratospheric.
Chloé Caillet
One of the freshest standouts from Mad Cool’s dance offering, New York DJ and producer Chloé Caillet plays the festival’s beat-centric stage The Loop, sharing a bill with Austrian DJ Salute, and bassline up-and-comer Sammy Virji. Born in Paris, raised in New York, currently based in Ibiza and unceremoniously expelled from school at one point in Bristol (where she soon dove headfirst into the city’s drum and bass scene instead) her music is – as you might expect – a real blend of influences. Expect rare disco cuts, hefty piano melodies, and a sprinkling of Balaeric from her DJ sets, while Caillet’s own productions come with a distinctive dance-punk edge.
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