A play on its two imperatives supporting the “next generation”, as well as “gender diversity”, NextGen promotes new digital genres created by artists who fuse visceral production with their own unique voices and sounds. They’re characterised by an energetic hybrid sound that deconstructs and repurposes material from many different sources, while drawing from an emergent youth culture of globally-aware musicians gathering in niche communities on the internet.

Invited artists include two London-based producer’s in the French-born Oklou, who recently released the whimsical downtempo RnB of her The Rite Of May EP via London’s NUXXE label, and Lauren Auder, a 19-year-old singer-songwriter born in the UK but raised in southwest France. His baritone vocal is woven through a production fusion of classical, post-rock, soul, IDM and more. Then there’s Berlin-based artist Mechatok, presenting his mutant take on abstract and minimal pop, as well as fellow Staycore affiliate, Jackie, and xin from the Genome 6.66mbp and Intruder Alert roster.

These cross-disciplinary sonic practices transcend established traditions and scenes, developing at the intersection of performance, contemporary art, and digital culture. Facilitated by new technologies and the infinite reproducibility of digitized sound, the approach creates a sonic and visual aesthetic that often explores juxtaposition and fluidity across politics, identity, gender and digital space.