Top acts to catch at Good Vibes Festival 2016

Australian brother-and-sister act Angus & Julia Stone parted ways in 2010 to release solo material but reunited to record their self-titled third album – and thank the gods of acoustic folk fare, because it’s the best thing the band has ever put out: fragile, languid and sparse, cracking voice front and centre; pristine harmonies be damned.

Angus & Julia Stone plays Saturday, August 13
facebook.com/angusandjulia

Dance music duo Howard and Guy Lawrence, aka Disclosure, shot to fame with debut album ‘Settle’. Since then, the Lawrence brothers have been ushered into the upper echelon of the music world, peddling progressive pop informed and influenced by the sounds and shapes of dance music – ie deep house, dubstep and UK garage – to dance floors around the world. ‘Caracal’, the full-length follow up, features all-star A-list appearances: Lorde, Miguel and Sam Smith, among others.

Disclosure (DJ set) plays Saturday, August 13
www.disclosureofficial.com

Enter Enterprise. Heavy on robot voices, sci-fi references and synth soundscapes, the Subang Jaya outfit might have been a little quiet this year – although we hear something’s brewing in the studio – but their music is as loud (and party-ready) as ever.

Enterprise plays Saturday, August 13
facebook.com/enterenterprise

Not for nothing have JB’s brother-sister dream pop duo Juno and Hanna won approval from the likes of local music portal The Wknd, as well as nabbing opening slots for Bandung’s pop electronic duo Bottlesmoker and a spot on Baybeats’ line-up down south. For starters, listen to ‘Air’.

Juno and Hanna plays Friday, August 12
facebook.com/junoandhanna

On super-tight sophomore album ‘Another Eternity’ – the follow-up to 2012’s ‘Shrines’ – boy-girl electro/future pop buzzband Purity Ring’s sound remains singular: bolder, brighter and bigger, yes, but the light-dark tension (babyish coos-meets-eerie lyrics-meets-glitchy synths) still makes for a compelling listen.

Purity Ring plays Friday, August 12
purityringthing.com

Canadian producer Ryan Hemsworth – formerly Twitter’s ‘Canadian Prince aka Mr Steal Your Wifi ’ – who’s worked his trap magic on everyone from Lorde to Lianne La Havas plus released three full-length records, presents his slick, sunny synths in the chilly highlands by way of 8-bit soundtracks to ’80s and ’90s video games.

Ryan Hemsworth plays Saturday, August 13
ryanhemsworth.com

The Irish quirk-popsters rose to stadium stardom the old-fashioned way: a musical formula that mainlines giddy, gleaming songs embellished with eff ervescent electropop à la the bastard child of Hot Chip and Phoenix, plus a ton of elbow grease (re: extensive touring). Good news: the band’s third album ‘Gameshow’ is set to drop in October.

Two Door Cinema Club plays Friday, August 12
twodoorcinemaclub.com

The Fridays released ‘Verklempt’, their debut album last May. It was ten years in the making, but worth the wait: the Ampang indiepop act dishes out wry lyrics and winking guitar lines, equal parts satirical and self-flagellation.

The Fridays plays Friday, August 12
facebook.com/thefridays

Melbourne-bred quartet The Temper Trap, best known for breakout single ‘Sweet Disposition’, dabbles in anthemic soft-rock featuring Dougy Mandagi’s signature falsetto. Come and celebrate the band’s third album ‘Thick as Thieves’, which sees the boys collaborating with songwriters for the fi rst time – including Malay, of Frank Ocean’s critically-acclaimed ‘channel ORANGE’.

The Temper Trap plays Friday, August 12
www.thetempertrap.com

Matthew Healy’s The 1975 feels, looks and sounds like a boy band – leather jackets, screaming fangirls – but that shouldn’t put you off the Manchester pop-rock phenomenon, whose sophomore album ‘I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it’ is stuffed full of percolating, polished pop. Dismiss them at your peril.

The 1975 plays Friday, August 12
the1975.com