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Ahead of our second edition, we have teamed up with new arts, music and cultural publication The Toe Rag, who have put together their top selection of artists from this year’s line-up.

From the leftfield to the visionary, our 2024 programme sits the unexpected next to the absorbing, and the spellbinding beside the innovative. ML Buch, Marie Davidson, Chanel Beads, and more, get to know a few of the highlights from our sophomore programme. They even asked Sorry for their unmissable performances too. Lovely.

The Toe Rag was founded in 2023 by Sophie Barshall to create a more inclusive space for London’s artists, artistic spaces, and communities to sit in dialogue with one another. Pick up The Toe Rag summer issue at your local independent/non-profit music venue, record store, bookshop, gallery, pub or cinema ahead of RALLY to read their preview of the festival. Sophie offers her picks for the festival below.

Chanel Beads

Fronted by Shane Lavers, Chanel Beads comes out of the DIY New York scene with their first album, Your Day Will Come released earlier this year. Recently interviewed by Toe Rag contributor Matteo Pini for TANK magazine and having just finished touring the US as supporting act for Mount Kimbie, there’s no way we’re missing Chanel Beads at RALLY.

Crystal Murray

I know Crystal Murray from being on Instagram as a tween. She was part of this group of beautiful chic Parisian girls who called themselves the Gucci Gang and influenced me to wear New Balance 530’s. Now she’s a singer making R&B, neo-soul, jazz, funk and house inspired music. Can’t wait.

Lena Willikens & Moopie

Lena Willikens is my favourite DJ, and if you like psychedelic-downtempo-trancey-chuggers, she’ll be yours too. Melbourne-based DJ Moopie is head of the label A Colourful Storm, and has collaborated with artists including Yves Tumor, Drew McDowell (of Coil), Mykki Blanco, and Parris. Together… we are forecasting magic.

Marie Davidson (live)

The lead single on Marie Davidson’s 2018 album Working Class Woman, titled Work It, might read as an endorsement of hustle culture with its chant of ‘sweat, sweat to be a winner’, but was actually Davidson’s comment on burnout. The artist quit playing live hardware club music in 2019 to take some much needed rest, but now she’s back, with a newly released single Pleasure on My Mind. We’re so excited.

ML Buch

Everyone’s talking about ML Buch, the Danish musician making pop music for the internet age who describes herself as a posthumanist. I missed her sold out performance with Astrid Sonne at the ICA in February because I was in a dark room somewhere finishing off Issue 2 of The Toe Rag, so I’m happy to be given another opportunity to see her in London this year. Yay.

Sorry

We asked Marco Pini from London-based indie rock band Sorry who he’d be watching after their performance at RALLY. Like me, he’ll be at Chanel Beads and ML BUCH, but he also insists that Nourished by Time (‘Daddy is one of the best songs ever, highway tunes’), Mount Kimbie ‘all time classics, used to blare at school’), and Sam Akpro are not to be missed. We trust you, Marco.

Words: Sophie Barshall (Founder, The Toe Rag)