Sónar Barcelona 2025

This edition will be quite emotional for those who repeat year after year, because it’s the last edition takin place at the famous Fira de Montjuïc — the venue is going under renovation for several years. So it’s expected that both Sónar by Day and Sónar by Night will both take place at Fira Europa, in the neighbouring city of L’Hospitalet — where we head now anyway for Friday and Saturday night. 

With over a hundred names in the lineup, it’s easy to get lost. So we’ll make it easy by handpicking ten acts you can’t miss from this year’s edition. 

There is no one today like the late Ryuichi Sakamoto. The Japanese trailblazer (who played several times at Sónar) changed the way many artists perceive sound and even approach their own practices. In Continuum, artists Alva Noto andn Fennesz get together to pay tribute to Sakamoto, with whom they both collaborated separately. Keeping his spirit alive through light, sound, engineering, and soul, Noto and Fennesz will present one of the most moving pieces in the entire festival.

We’ve seen her several times, and we want to see her several more. The Venezuela-born, Barcelona-based artist has been breaking moulds for over a decade now. And it doesn’t seem like she’s going to stop any time soon. Attending one of Arca’s performances is transformative: she gets extremely intimate, singing with the most angelical voice while playing the piano, and then, all of a sudden, she flips the script and turns the stage into an uncontrollable, frantic rave. 

Another artist who loves to come to Sónar is Daito Manabe, whose work is at the crossroads of cutting-edge technology and music-making. His sets are enveloping, otherworldly, and thrilling; it’s always a surprise because you don’t know what he’ll come up with next. What is certain though is that his visuals and sound exploration help the audience expand their conception of what art is and entails.

Do we really need to justify our answers? Wherever Honey Dijon https://metalmagazine.eu/post/honey-dijon-interview goes, we’ll make sure to follow. The Chicago-born DJ is one of the most celebrated artists out there thanks to her eclectic mix of house, disco, and techno, for turning it up in every set, and of course, for having collaborated with household names like Madonna, Beyoncé, and Lady Gaga.

Among all of these international stars, we must also highlight some local acts that more people should know of. And Maria Arnal Dimas is the perfect example. Bridging past and present, folklore and technology, her project is as unique as it is spellbinding. Her new show, Ama, is an exploration of antique, traditional music but seen, sung, and presented through a contemporary lens.

Another great artist using cutting-edge technology as a means to express feelings and emotions is Max Cooper. Earlier this year, he released On Being, an incredibly complex album with multiple layers and intricate textures. Always looking into the future and aiming to bring something new to the table, Cooper is for sure someone whose art you want to experience live.

This one is to die for! If you’re not familiar with (La)Horde yet, you should get started. The contemporary dance company is amongst the best in the world right now: their language is fresh, the themes they tackle are relevant, and their presence on stage is unmatched. And wherever they go, they sell out shows, so what better chance than now? Together with producer Rone and the Ballet National de Marseille, they’ll present the project A Room With a View.

Besides his own songs, which we love (remember he graced our cover a while ago), Sega Bodega is also the producer behind several hits you might not even be aware of. Last year, he launched the eight-track EP Reestablishing Connection [2020], featuring collabs with Eartheater, Isamaya Ffrench, Dorian Electra, and Oklou, among others. At Sónar, he’ll bring his intimate songs to life, helping the audience escape reality for an hour.

Take your tops off, it’s getting hot, hot, hot in here! Hailing from Argentina, Six Sex is a ticking bomb on stage: she dances, she twerks, she sings, and she even spins on a gym bike! Sexual, shameless, and unapologetic, she’s one of the most powerful new voices within the urban scene. Her newest EP, X-sex, is just another testament of that.

After winning a Goya award (the Spanish equivalent to the Oscars in the US or the Cesars in France) and teaming up with renowned singer-turned-filmmaker C.Tangana, Yerai Cortés is one of those emerging artists that is set to become global. His new take on flamenco and the Spanish guitar is fresh, cool, but still rooted in tradition. He’ll be presenting his 2024 album, La guitarra flamenca de Yerai Cortés, and it’s a way to connect to a way of music making that honours the past while looking into the future.