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Mar 19, 2023 Web Exclusive By Dom Gourlay

Glastonbury Emerging Talent 2023 has revealed the names of the ninety acts who’ve made it through to the longlist for this year’s competition, including the three chosen by Under the Radar. These acts will now be whittled down to a shortlist of just eight artists who will compete at April’s live finals for a slot on one of the main stages at this year’s Glastonbury Festival. The winners of the competition will also be awarded a £5,000 PRS for Music Foundation Talent Development prize, to help take their songwriting and performing to the next level. Two runners-up will also each be awarded a £2,500 PRS for Music Foundation Talent Development prize.

The full Glastonbury Emerging Talent 2023 longlist can be found HERE. These acts were picked by a judging panel made up of thirty UK online music writers, with each writer choosing their top three from the shortlisted entries. As with previous years, the 2023 competition is supported by PRS for Music and the PRS for Music Foundation.

The three artists chosen by Under the Radar are as follows:-

SPYRES

We’ve been aware of this Glaswegian four-piece for a while having already featured them as one of our 23 For 2023 tips at the turn of the year. Last year’s excellent debut EP Dear Diary suggested they would be stars in the making, and with more new music to come soon its probably fair to say Under the Radar are incredibly excited for Spyres’ future prospects.

WINTER GARDENS

Another band Under the Radar has been aware of for a few years now, having first come across them at 2019’s Rockaway Beach festival then also including them in our 21 For 2021 tips list. Hailing from Brighton, their sound is reminiscent of bands like Cocteau Twins, Curve and The Sundays while most recent single “Crystallise” saw them fuse more dancefloor friendly vibes with their ethereal sonics to make an entrancing collage of noise that will almost certainly be gracing bigger stages before long.

HMS MORRIS

Last but not least, Cardiff four-piece HMS Morris first came to our attention at Wrexham’s Focus Wales shindig in 2017, and since then we’ve steadily watched them progress into an experimental behemoth of sorts. With two Welsh Music Prize nominated albums to their name in 2016’s Interior Design and the follow-up two years later Inspirational Talks, they’re arguably one of the most innovative bands to emerge from the Welsh cultural underground whose time is most definitely now.

In the meantime, West Holts have become the first stage at this year’s festival to reveal its entire line-up, including headliners Kelis, Rudimental and Loyle Carner. Other notable acts playing West Holts include Beth Orton, Black Country, New Road and soul legend Candi Staton, who will be performing at Glastonbury as part of her farewell tour. See the poster below for the full West Holts line-up.

This is in addition to the initial list of names revealed two weeks ago that saw Arctic Monkeys and Guns ‘n’ Roses confirmed as headliners for Friday and Saturday nights respectively alongside the already announced Elton John, who’ll be closing the Pyramid Stage on Sunday. Other notable names and Under the Radar favourites confirmed to play include Manic Street Preachers, Wet Leg, Blondie, Warpaint, Weyes Blood and Fever Ray. For more information on this year’s festival visit Glastonbury’s Official Website. In the meantime, here’s the official line-up poster so far.

As with previous years, Under the Radar will be reporting from this year’s event, so stay tuned for more Glastonbury news and updates as and when we get them.