Luno presents All Points East announce the final headliner for 2023 and it’s going to be a very special one: DERMOT KENNEDY will headline Sunday 27th August, joined by OLIVIA DEAN, SG LEWIS, AURORA, JAMES VINCENT MCMORROW, NICK MULVEY and many more. The only place to be this August bank holiday!
DERMOT KENNEDY’s journey to success started for him as a busking 17-year-old. Through busking, he developed his signature sound, travelling to multiple major cities such as Dublin, in his home country Ireland, and across the pond to Boston to perform. Kennedy was also invited to open for The Frames’ frontman Glen Hansard, whom he had previously met while busking in Dublin and stayed in touch ever since.
Forward to 2019 when DERMOT KENNEDY truly made his mark in the UK and Ireland with the mammoth success of his debut album Without Fear (1.5M+ copies worldwide) and he never looked back! This established him as a platinum-selling artist in over 12 countries (in the UK: “Giants,” “Outnumbered,” “Power Over Me,” “Paradise” with Meduza and “Power” with Kevin Gates; “Paradise” turned gold in the US also). Without Fear is Ireland’s best-selling debut album of this millennium; an epic stat on Dermot’s resume, whilst he also amassed circa 4 billion streams cross-platform and competed for International Male Solo Artist at the BRIT Awards.
With his new album, Sonder, which was released at the end of last year and featured Top 5 single “Kiss Me,” Dermot Kennedy admits he’s never related to a word more. Sonder, “the realisation that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own,” encapsulates universal themes of love, loss and hope, with the platinum-selling artist evolving into an even more expressive and powerful storyteller.
From busking in the streets to selling out stadiums around the world, DERMOT KENNEDY’s golden vocals and piercing lyrical content are at the centre of his success, and his All Points East headlining show this summer will be the next exciting chapter.
I remember playing the main stage at All Points East back in 2019 just before my debut album came out.. It’s surreal to me how much has happened over the past 4 years since then and I’m so grateful to everyone who’s supported me on this journey. This headline show is going to be on another level and I’m honoured to be headlining this year alongside legendary artists The Strokes, HAIM, Stormzy and Jungle. See you in Victoria Park!
Dermot Kennedy
London singer-songwriter OLIVIA DEAN began her career collaborating with Rudimental and her stunning EP releases include Ok Love You Bye and Growth. In 2021, she was chosen as one of Amazon Music’s Breakthrough artists, going on to become one the UK’s brightest rising stars, praised for her endearing, down-to-earth lyrics and magnetic, feel-good live performances. Her first official gig back at the Camden Jazz Cafe sold out instantly and went on to be watched over 7 million times after it went viral on Tiktok. She’s had sets at Glastonbury, performed at the British Fashion Awards, KOKO, Roundhouse, and embarked on a European and UK tour. 2023 is a game-changing year for Olivia, with the release of her debut album Messy coming on Friday 30 June including her gorgeous latest single ‘Dive’.
SG LEWIS has cemented his status as one of musics’ most sought after producers and has collaborated with the likes of Elton John, Clairo, Khalid, Aluna, Victoria Monet, Raye, Ray BLK, The Neptunes/N.E.R.D’s Chad Hugo, Gerd Janson, Conducta + many more. Behind the scenes, he also produced Dave’s seminal breakout track ‘100M’s’ and co-wrote ‘Hallucinate’ for Dua Lipa’s record-smashing number one album, Future Nostalgia. Sam has sold out headline shows across the US, Asia, Australia and Europe as well as multiple festival appearances including prime-time slots at Coachella and Glastonbury – his raucous live shows not only make him one of London’s hottest talents, but also a formidable artist capable of making a splash on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond.
AURORA makes her All Points East debut this summer. Mixing frosty electronic textures, spare beats, and clear, emotive vocals, Norwegian artist AURORA works in a similar dark pop milieu as artists like Oh Land, Lykke Li, and Lorde. Her debut album, All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend, went to No.1 in her native Norway upon its release in 2016. Her latest album, an ethereal, electropop record The Gods We Can Touch, saw her claim her first ever Top 10 UK position in the charts earlier this year and we can’t wait to catch it live.
Irish singer/songwriter JAMES VINCENT MCMORROW also joins the billing. He first made his name in the 2010s with a dreamy and soulful brand of indie folk centered around his supple vocals. While his albums Post Tropical (2013) and the chart-topping We Move (2015) firmly established him as both a critical and commercial success, he also gained renown for his delicate renditions of hits by Steve Winwood and Chris Isaak. McMorrow released The Less I Knew last June, a self-produced eight-track full length whose self-penned selections effortlessly crossed genres ranging from R&B to indie to pop folk.
Acclaimed artist and songwriter NICK MULVEY has come a long way – both experientially, musically and philosophically. His work pushes boundaries in songwriting and sound, music both traditional and experimental, acoustic and electronic. A founding member of the award-winning British collective Portico Quartet, he left in 2011 to concentrate on his own material. Once solo, he released the Mercury Prize nominated debut album First Mind in 2014, and 2017’s celebrated Wake Up Now, along with a number of EPs. Last year’s release, New Mythology, beautifully explored how our humanity and the natural world are enmeshed.
Welsh producer, multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter NOVO AMOR AKA Ali Lacey will make his APE debut this Augusut. Lacey began Novo Amor as a project of sorts – an act of defiance in the wake of a break-up, but along the way, quite unexpectedly, he found something rich and rewarding. Years ago, a summer spent by an evergreen-surrounded lake in upstate New York supplied both the impetus and imagery that he would use to craft his debut album Birthplace (2018). His rewarding second album Cannot Be, Whatsoever followed in 2020. We can’t wait to see what he’s bringing to the All Points East stage this August.
Luno presents All Points East will also welcome Irish artist Chris Breheny AKA MONCREIFF, MOBO-nominated fast rising star RACHEL CHINOURIRI, Dublin singer/songwriter ABY COULIBALY, bedroom pop star ÁINE DEANE and London pop folk singer LEXIE CARROLL.
