Barcelona's Primavera Sound Festival, quite possibly the greatest annual music festival on the face of the planet, has unveiled the lineup for its 2026 edition. This year, the festival went all-in on our reigning pop-girl queens, booking Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, and Charli XCX as headliners. Next year, they're largely going back to the classics. Acts near the top of the poster include the Cure, the xx, Gorillaz, My Bloody Valentine, and Massive Attack. There's still plenty of pop on the lineup, with Doja Cat, Addison Rae, and PinkPantheress all listed prominently. (It's especially fun to see Addison Rae listed right between Massive Attack and My Bloody Valentine.) But the vibe should be different next year, in a cool way.
The reunited xx were already on the bill for next year's Coachella, and their inclusion here shows that they're coming back in a larger capacity than that one show. The same is true of My Bloody Valentine, who have a few other shows coming up but who haven't played a festival since Desert Daze in 2018. Massive Attack have a history of turning down festivals that don't align with their values, but the evidently feel comfortable with this one. Kneecap, who have been pulled from lots of other festivals, are also in there, and they're part of an unbelievably stacked undercard. Also, it's a fucking trip to see Merzbow on a festival lineup. You can look at this thing for a long time and keep finding new things, like reunited industrial pioneers Einstürzende Neubauten in small type or reunited Southern metal titans Kylesa in tiny type.
The full Primavera poster is an absolute embarrassment of riches. Highlights include (deep breath) Geese and solo Cameron Winter, Peggy Gou, Skrillex, Big Thief, Ethel Cain, Dijon, Wet Leg, JADE, Mac DeMarco, Little Simz, Marina, Rilo Kiley, Slowdive, Father John Misty, Knocked Loose, Oklou, 2hollis, Blood Orange, Ravyn Lenae, Alex G, Amaarae, Men I Trust, Viagra Boys, Overmono, Beverly Glenn-Copeland and Elizabeth Copeland, Texas Is The Reason, Underground Resistance, Touché Amoré, fakemink, caroline, Panda Bear, Water From Your Eyes, Smerz, Yard Act, These New Puritans, Fcukers, Ecco2k, Nick Léon, Baxter Dury, Lambrini Girls, Lucretia Dalt, Melt-Banana, Agriculture, mark william lewis, Anna von Hausswolff, Skullcrusher, Matmos, BAMBII, Grace Ives, Femtanyl, Shackleton, Shlohmo, and Iglooghost. There's also a ton of stuff I don't know, which makes me want to dig into it. The people who book this festival have amazing taste.
Next year's Primavera Sound Festival goes down 6/3-7 at Barcelona's Parc del Fòrum. You can find all the important info here. I don't know why the poster is Olympics-coded. Everybody tell Scott to send the whole Stereogum staff back again.
