Sónar 2025 - Broadcasting on every frequency: Plastikman, Nathy Peluso, Peggy Gou, Arca, BICEP’s CHROMA AV/DJ, Four Tet, Mochakk, and Honey Dijon among the first 66 names for Sónar 2025

21/11/2024Broadcasting on every frequency: Plastikman, Nathy Peluso, Peggy Gou, Arca, BICEP’s CHROMA AV/DJ, Four Tet, Mochakk, and Honey Dijon among the first 66 names for Sónar 2025

In 2025, Sónar returns with a diverse selection of sounds that make up the frequency of now.

The first lineup announcement for Sónar 2025 broadcasts on every frequency with 66 acts including forward-thinking artists, alternative superstars, modern champions of techno and house, and dancefloor hedonists. Consolidating Sónar’s reputation for bringing groundbreaking, bold artists and shows to the festival stage, in 2025 we’re linking micro-scenes from around the world with the diverse modern sound of Barcelona and Spain, and inviting you, the audience, to imagine new futures and realities.

Sónar is a festival like no other, with three events in one - Sónar by Day, Sónar by Night and Sónar+D - that help shape our own 360º vision of culture.

That’s why you’ll find Richie Hawtin’s iconic alter ego Plastikman, which returns for its first show since 2014, alongside rising Argentinian superstar Nathy Peluso, hot off the release of ‘GRASA’, an album that tied her to the global latin club phenomenon. You’ll be able to experience both BICEP’s acclaimed audiovisual DJ set CHROMA and brand-new, under-development shows by Arca and Eric Prydz. You won’t have to choose between leading lights of dance music like Peggy Gou and Four Tet, and you’ll be able to decide how young Brazilian star Mochakk compares to his “favourite DJ”, the iconic Honey Dijon.

Meet you on the dancefloor

There’s a list of dancefloor-ready sets that should already have you sweating: from electro queen Helena Hauff to an unpredictable mix of dubstep, techno and more by Blawan b2b Skrillex. We’ve invited Dutch trance legend Armin van Buuren to go back-to-back with rising ‘psy-techno’ star Indira Paganotto, and there’s still space in the DJ booth for both local heroes - Andres Campo - and international titans - Vintage Culture. The sound of trance to come also lands at Sónar 2025 with DJ HEARTSTRING, while horsegiirL associate MCR-T’s live set mixes ghetto tech and trap. Palestinian artist Sama’ Abdulhadi is a true techno activist - come hear a defiant set from one of the most talented artists to emerge from the Middle Eastern underground. And if that wasn’t enough: we’re also repeating last year’s collaboration with much-missed club Printworks London, who’ll return to take over SonarLab for a second year running with high-impact stage design, lighting and visuals - more details on who’ll be playing on this incredible stage very soon.

Nathy Peluso’s not the only modern pop act to draw inspiration from dance music: whether it’s Polo & Pan’s retrofuturistic take on the classic French Touch sound, or Portuguese producer Branko, a mainstay in the Lisbon electronic scene for over two decades. And we can’t forget rising UK house star Barry Can’t Swim, who’ll DJ a melodic set full of classics old and new.

On the flipside, there’s plenty of classic four-to-the-floor to be found, headlined of course by the return of Richie Hawtin’s seminal minimal techno alter ego Plastikman. BICEP’s CHROMA AV/DJ is joined by a pair of UK-flavoured live sets from the Overmono brothers and afore-mentioned techno producer Blawan, as well as Galician-Catalan artist Cora Novoa’s brand new set, based on her latest album.

There’s also a healthy dose of dancefloor hedonism, with Peggy Gou and Honey Dijon leading the charge. You definitely won’t want to miss electrifying house and disco diva Jayda G, but make sure you also catch a seductive session from rising UK star Elkka, and a scorching, synth-heavy set from Chilean artist Paula Tape. For fans of hypnotic, evocative dance music, Jennifer Loveless and Fafi Abdel Nour go back-to-back, while Shannen SP plays slow, bass-heavy selections, driven by the percussive grooves of South African amapiano. And heads up, if you’re into intense breakbeat-inspired rhythms you’ll need to see the brand-new audiovisual collaboration between Spanish scene veteran T.Modet and artist Carlotto Rose.

More than just music

We’re bringing the lab to the stage again, with multidisciplinary performances by artists who take live sets to the next level. Enigmatic electronic artist Actress teams up with the ‘diva of the diode’, modular synth pioneer Suzanne Ciani, for ‘Concrète Waves’, a new project co-commissioned by Sónar and London’s The Barbican. Rone x (LA)HORDE’s vast multidisciplinary project with Ballet National de Marseille, ‘Room With A View’, combines soulful electronic music with dance and protest. Elsewhere, you’re invited to experience new audiovisual shows by Sónar regulars Max Cooper - Lattice 3D/AV - and Daito Manabe, and get to grips with Mexico City-based Brazilian researcher and activist KEBRA’s radical theories of ‘desculonización’, which tackle colonialism while getting asses moving.

If you’re looking for all–consuming performances, Grand River and Abul Mogard will perform their collaborative album ‘In uno spazio immenso’, and there’s a world premiere of Shapednoise & Sevi Iko Dømochevsky’s chaotic CGI-noise-hip-hop show ‘Absurd Matter: Continuum’. Inspired by stolen Mesopotamian artefacts in the British Museum collection, Australian-Iraqi musician Danía has created ‘replica — relic’, together with visual artist Mau Morgó. Experimental vocalist and sound artist Sara Persico has teamed up with visual artist Mika Oki to create ‘Sphaîra’, an immersive audiovisual work based on recordings made at an abandoned Oscar Niemeyer theatre in Tripoli. Catalan vocalist Maria Arnal also presents her new show ‘Ama’, alongside a pair of unique audiovisual shows jointly commissioned by Sónar, Berlin Atonal, Semibreve, and Unsound as part of the TIMES cooperation: ‘A Forbidden Distance’ by Saint Abdullah, Eomac & Rebecca Salvadori and ‘Białowieża’ by Chris Watson & Izabela Dłużya. And finally, feel the power of the collective with ANCIENT PLEASURE, an ensemble of artists from the Barcelona experimental scene who improvise together live on stage.

We’re also proud to support a series of local artists who explore the dynamics between tradition and modernity. Vocal duo Tarta Relena’s new show ‘És pregunta’ has been jointly produced by Sónar and the Fira Mediterrània de Manresa, with support from the Catalan Department of Culture. Make sure you see Yerai Cortés, whose ‘Guitarra Coral’ show reconfigures traditional flamenco scenography. Raül Refree and Niño de Elche’s new work ‘cru+es’ (crosses) explores the dualities of the cross - life and death, pain and joy, noise and silence. Finally, Catalan violinist ASIA transcends her classical training with an emotional and personal performance, ‘ASIA X’.

Fast, loose, and without rules: the diverse sound of the frequency of now in 2025

If we can predict one thing about the future, it’s that fast-paced club music is here to stay: from the aforementioned DJ HEARTSTRING and MCR-T to speed garage hero Interplanetary Criminal. Speed freaks can also catch the man leading the new wave of jungle, Tim Reaper, and a delightfully unpredictable bass-heavy back-to-back from Flore and Peder Mannerfelt.

The frequency of now is nothing if not diverse - and it’s sometimes even a bit punky. Alternative superstar Arca defines both, as does Spanish queer phenomenon Samantha Hudson, who performs her new album ‘Música para Muñecas’, inspired by hardcore and bakala. The future also brings fusion: rising Argentine artist Six Sex ushers in a new era of perreo, combining electronic allure with rave anthems, while French-Tahitian group 15 15 mix island dancehall and city r&b.

Looking for a bit of old school bass wobble? Hamdi’s throwback dubstep will shake the very foundations of the festival. Juliana Huxtable and dj g2g are modern rave selectors, known for their rule-free, transgressive, and political takes on dance music, while Emerald has spent over a decade building a reputation as a true multi-genre DJ. There aren’t many corners of underground music that UK DJ Sarra Wild hasn’t explored - expect a radical set from the Glasgow-based artist. And of course, club music in 2025 is both polyrhythmic and polyglottal, as both Le Motel and ABADIR - as well as local artists DjSport, DJ Paca and Baldman - would agree.

Sónar 2025 will be full of artists who look beyond the established boundaries of club music, incorporating elements from genres and places outside the dancefloor. Mythical Brazilian band TETO PRETO’s shows are explosive, provocative and political: part multicultural party and part punk show. Kenya’s Lord Spikeheart is a one-man metal band, expanding the genre’s blueprint with influences from rap, industrial, and even trance: don’t miss his physical live show. Elsewhere, NEW YORK take electronic music’s subversiveness and mix it with post-punk sarcasm, while B4mba & Mooki6 - members of Barcelona’s critical afrodiasporic collective, Jokkoo - perform their new live project Nexus, inspired by primal rhythms and mystical energies.

Want to experience all of this (and more)? Get your ticket now

There’s still more to be announced - including a full Sónar+D programme exploring the interactions between the creative industries, innovation and technology - and it’s all coming to Barcelona on the 12th, 13th, and 14th June next year.

We want you to be a part of it. Get your SonarPass (for all three days of Sónar by Day and both nights of Sónar by Night) or SonarPass+D (also includes access to exclusive Sónar+D activities) now: we’re giving you until this Sunday, 24th November, at 23:59 CET to get your tickets before the price increases.