Latitude - Uncut Arena Headline Acts Announced

16th – 19th July 2009
Henham Park Estate, Southwold, Suffolk

MUSIC ADDITIONS

UNCUT ARENA

~ Bat For Lashes ~ Spiritualized ~ Gossip ~
~ Magazine ~ Newton Faulkner ~

The pioneering, award-winning Latitude Festival returns to England’s Sunrise Coast for another spectacular year. Taking place on 16th – 19th July, near Suffolk’s stunning seaside town of Southwold, organisers Festival Republic are promising Latitude will be the perfect British summer destination.

The impressive structure of the tented Uncut Arena houses an eclectic line-up of alternative, leftfield music; a hotbed of genre-spanning artists all offering something unique. This year will once again host a myriad of musical musts from the fields of folk, world, experimental, electronica, rock, indie and any other musical style you can think of. Headlining this year’s Uncut Arena are:

Multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter and visual artist Natasha Khan a.k.a Bat For Lashes will be heading up the line-up on Friday night. Whisking away listeners to faraway lands with her delicate haunting howls, whispers and dreamy vocals her debut album ‘Fur And Gold’ established Khan as a natural successor to fellow experimental leading female artists Björk, Kate Bush and Tori Amos. Khan’s richly orchestrated, intelligent music led to two Brit Award nominations and a Mercury Music Award nomination last year, and with her stunning new album ‘Two Suns’ released this Spring, she is set to further dominate with her beautiful voice and musical talent.

Twelve years ago, Spiritualized set the world alight with their stunning album ‘Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space’ – a space-rock odyssey of epic soundscapes, Afro-American gospel and blues. Since then writer, composer, singer and only constant member of the band, Jason Pierce, has continued to push the boundaries of experimental music, using 120 musicians for follow-up album ‘Let It Come Down’ and incorporating shoe-gazing styles with blues, soul and gospel. Let Spritualized take you on a journey to far away galaxies with a phenomenal and atmospheric live performance on Saturday night at Latitude.

Exploding onto the music scene in 2006 with their third album ‘Standing In The Way Of Control’, Arkansas trio Gossip have risen to achieve international mainstream success. Their strident, catchy punk is delivered with conviction and style by the formidable force of frontwoman Beth Ditto, who has emerged as a controversial although celebrated figure, battling prejudices against weight, gender and homosexuality. Gossip’s live shows are incendiary performances set alight by Ditto’s unashamed, no-holds barred feminism and megaphonic vocals – their headline set on Sunday night at Latitude will be no different.

Also playing: Howard Devoto and his legendary post-punk pioneers Magazine join the line-up at Latitude. An influential, experimental five-piece born out of the ashes of Devoto’s previous band Buzzcocks, Magazine had an enormous effect on the British music landscape in their short three year existence. Their critically acclaimed debut album ‘Real Life’ is widely considered one of the greatest of all time fusing punk and new wave with avant-garde and pop. With the ‘classic’ line-up back together (with the exception of guitarist John McGeoch who died in 2004) this will be a set you just can’t miss.

England’s dread-locked sensation Newton Faulkner comes to Latitude’s Uncut Arena. Rising to prominence in 2007 with his Number One platinum album ‘Hand Built By Robots’, featuring the Top Ten single ‘Dream Catch Me’ his bluesy vocals and astonishing virtuoso guitar playing set him apart from the legions of other acoustic singer songwriters and established him as a leading musician with huge talent. Working on new material for his second album due later this year, Faulkner’s dextrous flare and soaring voice is a welcomed addition to the line-up.

Over on the Obelisk Arena, Mancunian indie-rock band Doves come to the Sunset Coast. Their debut album ‘Lost Souls’ released in 2000 was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, which was followed by their second album ‘The Last Broadcast’ two years later, which reached Number 1 in the UK album chart, and again nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. This album contained the single ‘There Goes the Fear’ which reached Number 3 in the UK singles chart. Such is the distinctive sound Doves have crafted as a unique signature from day one that their new offering, ‘Kingdom of Rust’ (out in April) flies off at new tangents but is always recognisable due to a trademark passionate intensity that few can even approach.

Following on from the phenomenal success of debut platinum album ‘The Back Room’, Editors returned with their second album ‘An End Has A Start’ in 2007. Recorded in Ireland at Grouse Lodge with Garret Lee and mixed at Olympic Studios, the album sees the team behind the re-recorded version of ‘Bullets’ set to work on an entire collection of Editors’ work with stunning results. Lead singer Tom Smith has revealed that the band will explore a new direction on their next album, pursuing a new, rawer sound. At the end of last year, Editors had written around eighteen new songs for the new album and they have been described as some of the most synthetic, raw and anthemic songs they have written to date.

They join Obelisk headliners; electronic dance pioneers Pet Shop Boys, iconic disco queen Grace Jones, and the decadent rock noir of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. With many more bands to be announced across all the music arenas, Latitude’s extensive and eclectic line-ups will cater to all your musical needs.

Sultry Irish singer and cabaret queen Camille O'Sullivan will be performing a special set on the Thursday night in the Music & Film Arena. Raunchy, emotional, passionate and intriguing; her shows are spellbinding performances of sweet vocals and hypnotic dances exploring songs of Jacques Brel, Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Kurt Weill, David Bowie and more. Immersing herself in the character of each song, Camille enthralls audiences as much with her intense, theatrical performance as she does with her superb voice. Fierce, funny and vampishly sexy.

Elsewhere, the very best in film, theatre, comedy, literature, poetry, dance, art and cabaret will be pitching up at the fourth edition of Latitude Festival. Mark Lamarr’s God’s Jukebox and LateNightTales will be presenting some fabulous live performances from an eclectic set of bands in the Music & Film Arena; Sadler’s Wells and the Royal Opera House will be showcasing stunning performances on The Waterfront Stage; Royal Shakespeare Company, The Bush, National Theatre, Paines Plough, nabokov plus more will all be coming to the Theatre Arena along with the English Touring Theatre presenting Latitude’s first musical ‘Been So Long’. Also for the first time is the dynamic orchestral brilliance Britten Sinfonia performing in Latitude’s outdoor spaces. The Literary Arena is packed full of top authors including Blake Morrison, Geoff Dyer and Robin Ince’s Book Club as well as workshops from The School Of life; plus stellar poets Andrew Motion, Brian Patten, Jackie Kay and Simon Armitage will be in the Poetry Arena. The Cabaret Arena welcomes Zimbani, Deborah Francis-White , Holly Walsh & Sophie Black, Jessica Delfino, Cardinal Burns and Watson and Oliver plus plenty more exciting performances to announce. With a quite astonishing comedy line-up to be announced and much, much more across all of the arenas, Latitude 2009 is once again a perfect slice of cultural heaven by the sea.


TICKET INFORMATION

Weekend tickets £150 plus booking fees • Day tickets Fri, Sat, Sun £60 plus booking fee. Weekend tickets prices include car parking and camping • Days include car parking only.

Credit Card line: 0871 231 0821
Online at: www.festivalrepublic.com • www.seetickets.com • www.latitudefestival.co.uk

For a full list of national and regional outlets please visit www.latitudefestival.co.uk

For further Press info contact: 020-7792-9400
Charlie Caplowe: charlie@presscounsel.com
Dani Cotter: dani@presscounsel.com
Anthea Thomas: anthea@presscounsel.com
Dan Griffiths: griff@presscounsel.com