Pitchfork Music Festival Takes Over East London With the Best of Indie Music

Written by Lois Ball

Photography by Elektra Kaldeli

For the fourth year in a row, Pitchfork Music Festival returned to London. Featuring 80+ artists across dozens of the city’s most-loved venues, it was a must-attend for anyone wanting to experience the best of new music. Over six days, the iconic publication invited fans into one-of-a-kind shows that are sure to reach future-classic status in the years to come.

A standout in the festival’s calendar was Pitchfork’s Dalston Takeover: a day-long event where some of the most exciting emerging musicians took the stage all over East London.

Delivering sets that moved from electro-pop to shoegaze, the day centred around Dalston’s EartH, a beloved cultural hub for London creatives. Once an art-deco cinema, the venue is now a theatre, music hall, and recording space that hosts everything from comedy nights to songwriting workshops. For the festival, EartH became home to some of the biggest ones-to-watch in the indie scene.

At the EartH Theatre, indie-rock powerhouse Indigo De Souza headlined. Considering how rarely she plays in the UK, the space was rightfully packed with fans eager to hear her formidable synth-rock sound live.

Meanwhile, the EartH Hall hosted a stacked lineup: Full Body 2, Momma, Underscores, and shoegaze legends Panchiko. The eclectic curation was a reminder that incredible music can be found in every corner; Full Body 2 delivered hazy, metallic shoegaze; Momma fused pop hooks with gritty 2000s grunge; Underscores brought vibrant electro-pop; Panchiko offered their signature blend of shoegaze and noise-pop.

For those wanting to head further off the beaten path, Café Oto was the destination. Usually known for jazz and experimental programming, the space welcomed Another Country $$$$, Boko Yout, and Body Meat for genre-bending sets that pushed the festival even further into left-field territory.

The Shacklewell Arms, long regarded as a launchpad for emerging artists (with early sets from Fontaines D.C. in 2017 and Blood Orange in 2011), also joined the festivities. Seattle indie-rockers Deep Sea Diver and Brooklyn indie-folk artist Renny Conti were among the names to take the stage, adding another layer to the day’s diverse lineup.

Across every venue, the range and quality of performances made one thing clear: the future of indie music is in very safe hands. With Pitchfork Music Festival 2025 now over, the anticipation begins for next year’s lineup. Having previously hosted acts like Black Midi, Faye Webster, and Kae Tempest before they broke out, it’s only a matter of time before the next major name picks up that call from Pitchfork.