True to the annual tradition, we proudly reveal the first names of the now eighth edition of our beloved BRDCST festival. The genre-fluid high mass for musical adventurers will take place from Friday 4 through to Sunday 6 April 2025.
BRDCST spreads across the AB, the stunning Church of Our Lady of the Rich Clares, the Silver Space at Beursschouwburg, and Room 1 at our artsy neighbors of cinema Palace. Get your hands on a limited number of early bird combi tickets starting Wednesday 18 December at 11 a.m., and enjoy a €10 discount by simply trusting our musical instinct.
Curators Anna von Hausswolff, Backxwash and Colin Stetson
In 2025, BRDCST is excited to welcome three guest curators, each creating an evening to their musical liking. Joining us are Sweden’s Anna von Hausswolff, Zambian-Canadian Backxwash, and American circular breathing master Colin Stetson. At the end of January, they will unveil the line-ups they've curated for the festival. But first, let us introduce you to the curators themselves.
Anna von Hausswolff (SE)
British newspaper The Observer once wrote: “Anna von Hausswolff may be the most original and compelling solo artist working in the Western world today.” Anna Michaela Ebba Electra von Hausswolff is adored by fans & music critics alike and has been making our hearts race for years.
Her timbre is reminiscent of icons like Nico, Diamanda Galás and Kate Bush, with whom she shares her vocal range of four octaves (!). Her music lies at the exciting intersection of art pop, drone and post-metal, with the timbre of her (pipe)organ often playing a prominent role.
Von Hausswolff’s musicality was lovingly instilled in childhood by her father, avant-garde sound artist Carl Michael von Hausswolff. She now has five albums to her name and in 2018, at the request of Nick Cave, she appeared on stage at the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival. There have been collaborations with black metal icons Wolves in the Throne Room, sound terrorists Swans, droners Sunn O))) and Yann Tiersen.
Her love for black metal runs strong—Mayhem being her all-time favorite band—and that ‘subtly’ echoes through her music. During her most recent visit to Belgium, she even had some trouble with fundamentalist catholic groups for once having sung "I made love with the devil" in the song Pills (2009).
At BRDCST you will get a sneak preview of her latest album Atlas Song, planned for release in spring 2025. She composed this music for the dance performance of the same name, created by choreographers Imre and Marne van Opstal, which premiered in 2024 at the prestigious GöteborgsOperan.
Backxwash (ZM/CA)
Zambian-Canadian rapper Backxwash delivered a musical uppercut at Utrecht’s Le Guess Who? Festival in 2023. The combination of her music – horror rap, industrial beats and chopped-up samples of black metal bands – with a barrage of images of Angela Davis, Malcolm X and Nina Simone, made for a true aural exorcism. Her stage presence is just as striking, with corpse paint serving as both a stylish and sincere tribute to black metal.
Backxwash – nom de plume of Ashanti Mutinta – moved to Canada when she was seventeen to settle the battle between her Christian upbringing and gender expression. The processing of that pain can be heard in her autobiographical trilogy God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It (2020) – for which she won the prestigious Polaris Prize ahead of countrymates like Caribou and Kaytranada – I LIE HERE BURIED WITH MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES (2021) and HIS HAPPINESS SHALL COME FIRST EVEN THOUGH WE ARE SUFFERING (2022).
In the spring of 2025, Backxwash will release new work, with the single WAKE UP already making waves. Exclaim! Magazine wrote: “Backxwash's teeth - and pen - are sharper than ever. Evolving from metal with saturated, psychedelic textures to gospel-influenced rap.”
Colin Stetson (US)
With six (!) visits to AB under his belt – of which five solo shows and one as a member of the backing band for Bon Iver – saxophonist Colin Stetson is no stranger to us. This established connection sparked the idea for a BRDCST curatorship, an invitation Stetson was more than happy to accept.
The American was once described by The New York Times as “a one-man astonishment engine” and a master of circular breathing. The way he plays tenor sax is reminiscent of (free jazz) masters like Evan Parker, Peter Brötzmann and Anthony Braxton. His CV looks impressive due to collaborations with Feist, BadBadNotGood, Tom Waits, Lou Reed, Animal Collective, Keeley Forsyth (tip: remember that name!), David Byrne, LCD Soundsystem, Brìghde Chaimbeul and The National, amongst others.
Stetson also boasts around 15 soundtracks to his name (including a remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre), he impressively reworked Górecki’s Symphony N° 3 and he celebrates his love of black metal, free jazz, hard bop and noise with his band EX EYE. The recently released The Love It Took To Leave You is his first solo album since 2017.
Finally, in the words of The Guardian: “Stetson manages to walk a line between percussive layering reminiscent of Steve Reich, meditative repetition akin to Philip Glass, and the lyricism of his friend and collaborator Laurie Anderson. Multi-textured and immersive, his work really is like nothing you've heard before.”
