Festivals English Teacher, Paris Paloma & more: here’s six of the must-see acts playing at Mutations 2023

The Brighton fest boasts a treasure trove of incredible new acts, who’ll all be playing across the next four days.

Words: Daisy Carter, Sarah Jamieson
2nd November 2023

Here at DIY, it’s no secret that two of our favourite things are new music and heading to the seaside, so we’re positively gleeful at the prospect of this weekend’s Mutations Festival.

Taking over a slew of venues across Brighton over the next four days - following their suitably rowdy opening party featuring Fat Dog, which took place last night - this year’s edition of the fest is absolutely jam-packed with some of the best names in new music, and not even little ol’ Storm Ciarán could hold us back.

So, while there’ll, of course, be ace headliners such as Django Django, The Staves, and Fat White Family performing across the week, it’s the treasure trove of incredible new artists that we’re most interested in. In order to help get your ones-to-watch list prepped ahead of time, we thought we’d run through just a few of them…

Paris Paloma

Paris Paloma is having one hell of a year. Having released her breakthrough single ‘Labour’ back in March, its powerful message - digging into the detrimental impact that patriarchal structures still bear upon women’s lives everywhere - spread like wildfire online, earning over 70 million streams, and she’s barely looked back since. Now, with her latest track ‘drywall’ out in the open, she’ll be playing her final show of 2023 at Mutations this weekend, and it’s certain to be a showstopper.

Paris Paloma plays Patterns on Thursday 2nd November.

Mary In The Junkyard

Despite having formed just a little over a year ago, there’s no doubting that Mary In The Junkyard are already one of the buzziest bands of the moment. After steadily building their reputation and following thanks to a slew of brilliant gigs, it was only a month ago that their hypnotic debut ‘Tuesday’ finally landed, but what an introduction it was. Get a taste of what more’s to come when they take to the stage in Brighton this weekend.

Mary In The Junkyard play Patterns on Friday 3rd November.

Grove

Having become well-known for their electrifying live shows over the past few years, Grove’s upcoming set in Brighton will not only get crowds ready for the almost-certain chaos of Fat White Family’s headline slot, but it doubles as the multi-hyphenate’s first show in their upcoming ‘P*W*R // PL*Y’ tour, which marks the release of their darkly seductive new EP.

Grove plays Chalk on Saturday 4th November.

Alien Chicks

Alien Chicks are no strangers to live performance, having cut their teeth at the wealth of independent venues in and around South London. They’ve recently joined English Teacher on the road for a UK tour and play London’s iconic 100 Club tonight - their biggest headline show to date - so we’d say that if you fancy catching their feisty, fun, groove-infused punk in an intimate venue, Mutations may well be one of your last chances.

Alien Chicks play The Prince Albert on Saturday 4th November.

English Teacher

Just a few weeks ago now English Teacher took to the stage at our own showcase during Hamburg’s Reeperbahn fest, and truly blew us away by just how much they’d transformed as an outfit: “Vocalist Lily Fontaine’s resplendent afro feels like a visual metaphor for the singer’s growth herself; these days, she’s a frontperson to behold, dead-eyeing the crowd at points, leaning into big, dynamic vocals at others, and confidently taking up all the space she needs.” At this weekend’s Mutations, we’re hoping for more of the same.

English Teacher play Chalk on Sunday 5th November.

cumgirl8

There aren’t many bands out there who’d transform themselves into farm animals for the sake of their artwork, but then again, there aren’t many bands like cumgirl8. Fresh from releasing their third EP - the infectious, irreverent ‘phantasea pharm’ - back in August, the New York quartet will be bringing their brand of playful, boundless post-punk to Brighton for a turn on our very own DIY Stage on Sunday night, in what’s sure to be a memorable way end to the fest.

cumgirl8 play the DIY Stage at Green Door Store on Sunday 5th November.

Mutations Festival takes place from Wednesday 1st to Sunday 5th November in venues across Brighton. For more information, or to grab one of the last tickets, head to their website now.

Tags: Alien Chicks, cumgirl8, English Teacher, Paris Paloma, Mutations, Features