Ten Breakthrough Artists Announced for the New Music Stage at Aesthetica Film Festival
Ten of the UK and Ireland’s most significant emerging voices have been announced for the New Music Stage at the BAFTA-qualifying Aesthetica Film Festival.
Taking over York Theatre Royal on Saturday 7 November, the line-up brings together Other People’s Leisure, WineMom, PH, roe, Katherine Aly, Circe, Caro, LFay, Chisara and Lepani – 10 artists working across indie, electronic, art-pop, hip-hop, R&B, soul and experimental music. They represent an exciting moment in contemporary music, with artists already attracting national radio support, appearing on major stages and developing audiences beyond the UK. This is the New Music Stage’s central proposition – to put exceptional new artists in front of audiences as their work begins to travel, while creating a space where musicians, filmmakers and industry can connect. For anyone serious about discovering the next generation of music, this is a line-up worth paying attention to.
The breadth of the programme is immediately apparent. Scottish duo Other People’s Leisure are building immersive electronic worlds from analogue hardware, digital production and multi-projection visuals, combining the melodic instincts of indie songwriting with music made for the dancefloor, while Dublin four-piece WineMom bring their own “Nostalgia Rock” to the stage, drawing on the spirit of Fleetwood Mac and Blondie and an energetic live presence already tested on major UK and Irish stages. Northwest London rapper PH moves between old-school hip-hop and a contemporary, globally influenced sound, with collaborations including Soulja Boy, The Game and Onyx and more than a million streams for YOU GIRL. Derry songwriter roe, meanwhile, turns emotional volatility into intimate, sharply observed songwriting.
Then there is Katherine Aly, whose hyperpop-inflected alt-pop and surreal approach to relationships has earned attention from BBC Radio 1, BBC 6 Music and BBC Introducing, alongside Circe, the Brighton-based artist creating expansive, cinematic dark-pop from huge synths, distorted guitars, strings and layered vocals. Circe’s influences may include Björk, FKA twigs and Kate Bush, but the resulting sound is unmistakably her own – atmospheric, strange and often closer in scale to a film score than conventional pop. Caro bring intricate guitar music into focus, combining offbeat rhythms, treated guitars and introspective lyrics, while LFay folds old-school hip-hop, urban jazz and neo-soul into jungle, drum & bass and breaks, drawing on rave and pirate-radio culture while writing candidly about youth and isolation.
Chisara occupies an even more fluid space, moving between Afro-art-pop, theatre, film and visual art, with radical hope, punk, philosophy and storytelling at the heart of their work. An award-winning composer and multidisciplinary artist, they have worked across projects including Steve McQueen’s Blitz and received mentoring from Brian Eno through Netflix’s composer programme. Completing the line-up, Lepani brings a perspective shaped by Fiji, New Zealand and Manchester to alternative pop, R&B and soul, having built more than 14 million streams while remaining closely connected to Manchester’s grassroots scene. What connects all ten is an instinct to push boundaries – through sound, storytelling, performance and visual identity – making the New Music Stage a compelling snapshot of where music is moving now.
The New Music Stage sits at the centre of Music at Aesthetica, a programme exploring the increasingly rich relationship between music and film. As part of the BAFTA-qualifying Aesthetica Film Festival, it encompasses composition, music supervision, artist films, visual worlds, sync and the creative relationships developing between musicians and filmmakers. Music at Aesthetica opens up a wider conversation between music and film, bringing artists, filmmakers and industry together to explore new forms of collaboration, storytelling and discovery. Festival Director Cherie Federico says: “Music has always been fundamental to cinema, from the score and soundtrack to the way artists create visual worlds around their work. The New Music Stage gives us an opportunity to extend that relationship and create meaningful connections between emerging musicians, filmmakers and the industry. It is about discovery, collaboration and creating opportunities for new creative voices.”
The industry programme builds on this exchange. Meet the Music Jury brings together Rob Cannell of Beggars Group, Sally Bryant of Futuresound Group, Nicolas Tyrell and Arusa Qureshi, while Sync in Focus features Universal Music, Rough Trade Records and Domino Recording Company, exploring how music moves into film and television. Scoring to Picture, led by multi-award-winning composer, lyricist, arranger and producer Anna Rice, offers insight into creating music for screen, while BBC Radio 1 and BBC Introducing presenter Jess Iszatt will deliver a keynote on the role of radio in developing new artists.
For Pablo Ettinger, founder of Caffè Nero and partner of Aesthetica, the relationship between the two forms is fundamental: “Music and film are two of the most powerful forms of storytelling, and when they come together the possibilities are endless.” That spirit runs throughout the programme, from the ten newly announced artists to Dilettante, the art-pop project of multi-instrumentalist Francesca Pidgeon, who returns to Aesthetica after winning last year’s New Music Stage. Performing live with a Q&A at 21:00, her return creates a direct link between last year’s discovery and this year’s new generation.
The New Music Stage runs from 13:00–20:50 at York Theatre Royal on Saturday 7 November, making it a major live event within Music at Aesthetica. The wider programme begins with Scoring to Picture at 10:30, followed by Meet the Music Jury at 12:00, Sync in Focus at 15:45 and Jess Iszatt’s keynote at 17:00, before Dilettante closes the evening at 21:00. Across the day, audiences can move between performances, conversations and industry insight, encountering the artists alongside the people shaping their careers. Music at Aesthetica is available to Unlimited Pass, Saturday Day Pass and Music at Aesthetica Pass holders, making the New Music Stage a key part of the wider Aesthetica Film Festival experience. Across screenings, talks, exhibitions, networking and live events, the festival creates an environment where different creative disciplines can intersect – and where music can be considered alongside film, visual art and performance.
This year’s 10 artists are the reason to make space in the diary, and the New Music Stage is the place to encounter them together. Tickets are available now for Saturday 7 November – a full day dedicated to the artists, ideas and collaborations shaping the future of music and film.
Aesthetica Film Festival runs 4-8 November in York, UK. The New Music Stage runs 7 November.
Click here to learn more and listen to this year’s New Music Stage artists.
Click here to book your festival or Music at Aesthetica pass.
Click here to download the Official Aesthetica Film Festival 2026 Programme.
Words: Simon Cartwright
