The Orielles Enchant Belgrave – Dark Arts 2025 Festival Review

Francesca Lynes reviews the most recent Dark Arts festival at Belgrave.

The day after Halloween seems as apt a day as any for a festival called ‘Dark Arts’. Held biannually in Belgrave (boogaloo-regulars and free-yoga-attendees, you know the place), Dark Arts is a melting pot of local, predominantly young, experimental bands and musicians alongside a similarly passionate crowd of music fans. The line-up draws a mixed crowd that is largely well-dressed (many a collared jacket and intentional haircut to be seen) whilst the atmosphere is warmly supportive.

With standouts from previous Dark Arts line-ups including English Teacher, Westside Cowboy, Fat Dog, and Opus Kink, it’s safe to say I was excited to see what hidden gems could be discovered this time around.

I arrive early-afternoon and, already, there is a glorious moodiness to Belgrave’s venue space. Daylight peeks in from one of the curtained windows at the back of the snug bar whilst the rest of the room is draped in darkness, stage lighting casting a purple gloom over the crowd that is already filling out. 

The first act I catch is Truthpaste. A Manchester-formed five-piece, their set is both weird and bold with an endearing charm that comes from a slightly awkward confidence. Oh, and Simon Cowell is here too. Or, as I look closer, one of Truthpaste’s members has donned a scarily well-pixelated Simon Cowell face mask. The music itself is similarly playful, though with notably skilled musicianship and lead vocals. I can see myself returning to Truthpaste’s enjoyable, unpretentious alternative anthems. Throughout their 30 minutes, Truthpaste’s mockery (or genuine fandom, who am I to say?) of Simon Cowell becomes more clearly linked to Dark Arts’ atmosphere and ethos. Rather than being a competitive, and often sanitised competition of young artists fresh for the exploitation slaughter, Dark Arts instead has created an atmosphere of support and creative expression. The crowd’s attentiveness eggs the acts on as the power of filling a room with open-minded music nerds is keenly felt. 

Dark Arts do a stellar job of keeping the slots to their timings, with a half an hour break between each one. However, due to an urgent need to refuel and recuperate, I sadly missed Shaking Hand’s late-afternoon slot. Also hailing from Manchester, Shaking Hand are one of the bands I was listening to before the festival. Their track ‘Over The Coals’ is well worth the 7 minutes and I’ll definitely be keeping an ear out for their debut album Mantras, out in January (hint: you should too).  

Sarah Meth was up next, a mellow and soulful set, though not with any less passion as the previous acts. A North-Londoner, Meth dabbles in indie-pop for those with a taste for the slightly off-kilter. Pollyfromthedirt followed – an act I found particularly captivating as they effortlessly controlled the digital elements of their performance with the live vocals. A young guy from Darlington singing in an Orville Peck-esque face mask, telling the crowd, in a distortedly digital sound that ‘Theres no such thing as England’ was both believable and thoroughly watchable. There was something oddly professional about this new artist’s vocals (would it be so wrong to reference Lewis Capaldi?) but the way Pollyfromthedirt had condensed this mainstream quality and mixed it with more unsettling, avant-garde aspects was oddly moving. Pollyfromthedirt onstage mixing created a sound reminiscent of Bon Iver’s 2011 album, Bon Iver, Bon Iver, or James Blake’s The Colour in Anything (2016), whilst his witty, observational lyricism had a quotidian political twang of early Billy Bragg, ‘I’m a liar for a weekend in Majorca’. Managing to combine these polarised sounds into something cohesive is a testament to their solo live presence: Pollyfromthedirt is fully in control of every aspect of each track.

Right. Break for a classic Belgrave smash burger? I think so. 

And, we’re back. Tommy Barlow, well worth a listen, combined distorted King-Krule-esque vocals with a moodiness that imbued the whole set with a delectable angst. The violinist was stooped so low I thought he might deliver the first unintentional haircut of the evening and saw his fringe off with the bow. Meanwhile, the lead vocalist was similarly semi-concealed by the mic and shadowy lighting. Tommy Barlow’s set was a distilment of moody, experimental noise, but a noise that was convincing and captivating – by this point I’m already excited to research the full line-up later and keep an eye and ear on these acts. 

Next up, Nottingham post-punk rockers Do Nothing, in support of The Orielles’ headline slot. Similar in tone to Yard Act, Do Nothing seem to be the first act of the day with fans in the audience singing along. With the energy up and the night darkening, we grab another drink and head to the front for The Orielles.

I’ve seen this band quite a few times now, including on their first album tour for Silver Dollar Moment (2018), and it has certainly been an upwardly exciting trail since then. Now promoting their upcoming fourth album, Only You Left, Henry (lead guitar and vocals), Sid (drummer and backing vocals), and Esme (lead vocals and bass guitar) are a band confidently primed for headlining. The Orielles seamlessly keep the energy upbeat throughout both old and new tracks, all the way keeping in time with their ever-evolving experimental live style that both transforms and immortalises familiar favourites such as ‘While The Flowers Look’. Henry’s guitar-playing is, as ever, manic and impressive – who knows how someone could pull off that musical complexity whilst near-flinging themselves off the stage. Meanwhile, Sid and Esme, sisters from Halifax, have a more reserved onstage presence that compliments the madness well. It’s warming to hear that this new album seems to continue the more avant-garde sound of Tableau (2022) with touches of indie-rock from Silver Dollar Moment (2018) and some more funky elements from Disco Volador (2020). It seems like the perfect time for this 3-piece to have melded their 3 albums so far into what sounds like will be a true masterpiece, just ahead of their slot supporting English Teacher on their upcoming tour. Finishing on an electric, elongated, and spellbinding performance of ‘The Instrument’ from Tableau (2022), I am reminded, yet again, why this band, in my eyes, can do no wrong. What a way to finish a festival centred around new, exciting, and alternative music. 

Advertised as a ‘celebration of the best left of center music across indie, punk, and electronica’, Dark Arts risks underselling the variety in its line-up. With jazz, soul, funk, electronic, techno, and, of course, the newest post-punk bands, in its line-up, Dark Arts showcases why live music surpasses Spotify’s algorithm. Instead of plunging your taste into a musical echo chamber or feeding you with AI-generated music (yes, the end of the world has started), Dark Arts truly celebrates young artists creating for the joy of it, under whichever influences or styles they want. If someone told me my next few months listening would be based just around their past lineups, I would be more excited to get the CD player spinning than to check my ‘On Repeat’. 

I leave feeling fully musically satiated. Silverwingkiller’s late-night techno set saw the crowd dwindle, but the energy from the stage was certainly infectious for those that remained. A truly unique way to round off Dark Arts, ensuring no genre stone was left unturned. See you there next time. 

Words by Francesca Lynes