tall child, Cyn Cwsg, Kiosk

Green Man Rising winner tall child — aka London-based Nigerian-Indian songwriter Zha Gandhi and their band — melds intense, stormy emotion and grungy riffs with sweet melody and happy-go-lucky indie jangle, to irresistible effect. The name “tall child” comes from a Mitski lyric: a marked influence, together with Radiohead, Arlo Parks, and Rachel Chinouriri. tall child released their debut EP Somehow You Grow last year, on which they grow like a tall tree and rise above the challenges of being a queer, disabled, POC indie artist. 

Cyn Cwsg — “before sleep” — offer a tad more bite than their name might suggest. Their harmony-soaked rock, oddball country, and hallucinatory pop has drawn comparisons to Iwan Llwyd and the Beach Boys: music armed with lush indie guitar sounds, Britpop-adjacent riffs, and a touch of Elliott Smith if he’d been raised in north Wales. The quartet released their debut EP Pydru yn yr Haul last year: songs in Welsh and English that telegraph gritty vulnerability and bite straight to the bone.

Leeds-tronica duo Kiosk have variously described their sound as “3am at the club”, “buttons and knobs”, and “better than Monopoly”. Burgeoning out of the West Yorkshire powerhouse’s diverse DIY scene, the pair — Isabella Alcock on vocal and synths and Rory ‘Maz’ Maslen on bass and synths — make dance-punk with all the accoutrements: dreamy, aloof vocals, new-wave tinges, electro-clash fervour, 00s indie synth pop, surrealist spacey soundscapes, industrial noise, and a techno pulse. Kiosk only have three singles out in the wild so far, but a buzzy live reputation on the underground circuit that promises nothing but great things. 

This year’s Green Man Rising competition winners and runners up reminisce about the process which landed them all playing this year’s festival. 

Green Man Rising is a unique artist development program that supports artists on their journey to becoming the headliners of tomorrow. It seen as the UK’s most comprehensive support package for grassroots music. It offers a massive leg-up for emerging artists at a time when those opportunities are diminishing. All four finalists get a slot on the Rising Stage, with the winner being the opening band of the iconic Mountain Stage, sharing the bill with top international headliners.