The hard choices at C2C 2026

Joanne Robertson's whispered folk or LIIM's Harlem jazz loops?

A brittle guitar, a voice close to the mic, melodies that hang and vanish: Joanne Robertson, a Glasgow painter, writes songs that sound improvised. Her record 'Blurrr' was one of last year's quiet surprises. Half an hour later on the Dazed Stage, LIIM is a 21-year-old from Harlem rapping and half-singing over dissonant jazz samples, with a nod from Tyler, The Creator. Robertson for anyone who came with The Wire in their bag; LIIM for whoever wants the early evening to move.

Kelela's club R&B or Elias Rønnenfelt's dark songs?

Kelela sings clear and high over beats that never quite lock into four-to-the-floor; she helped tie R&B to the experimental club scene more than ten years ago, and this is her first C2C since 2014. A quarter of an hour later the singer of Copenhagen band Iceage plays his solo songs on the Dazed Stage: a grainy voice, half poetry, closer to a late-night bar than a rock show. Kelela if you want to dance with your eyes closed, Elias if you came for the Dean Blunt side of the lineup.

Crystallmess's funeral-party energy or Picture's slow dub-techno?

Late on Saturday, Paris DJ Crystallmess plays raw, percussive club music that runs from dancehall to Afro-trance to Detroit techno, loud and full of grief and joy at once. On the other stage, Natal Zaks, a central figure in Danish club music, plays as Picture: patient kick drums, dub chords and a lot of space, mostly from unreleased music in his archive. Crystallmess if you still have legs; Picture if you want to sway until the shuttle.