From the hypnotic guitar structures of Ex-Easter Island Head, to the spiritual soundscapes of Nali Sinephro, to the performative sound rituals of Lukas De Clerck – each of these artists redefines musical boundaries.
Rewire Festival has long established itself as one of Europe’s boldest platforms for adventurous music and interdisciplinary performance. Taking over The Hague each spring, it invites artists who push boundaries between sound, image, body and technology.
Three years I ago I wrote about it:
The Hague festival showed how music can create different narratives of reality – whether it’s minimalism in the Amare concert hall or pulsating techno in the 18th-century theatre under Henricus Jansen’s vault paintings.
Full review: http://noweidzieodmorza.com/15321-rewire-festival-review/
The 2025 edition is no exception, offering a rich palette of spiritual jazz, radical minimalism, audiovisual experimentation, electroacoustics and genre-defying encounters. For those who seek intensity and transformation rather than passive listening, Rewire is a pilgrimage. Among this year’s outstanding lineup, we’ve selected ten essential performances that promise to be much more than just concerts – they’re moments you’ll carry with you long after the sound fades.
Alvin Curran – Canti Illuminati
A legendary figure of avant-garde music, Curran’s Canti Illuminati is a wild and mystical journey through voice, electronics, and natural soundscapes. Performed live, it becomes a total experience—meditative, raw, visceral, and spiritual all at once. It’s a rare occasion not to miss!
Sealionwoman
Sealionwoman has only a voice and bass to make a distorted, colorful, and spatial background. In the foreground are dignified vocals, a little sacred but still quite dark. Although it seems to be a light-hearted piece of material, it has an unwritten and unobvious weight, something like a minimalist soundtrack to nightmares.
Nala Sinephro
The Belgian-Caribbean composer and harpist weaves spiritual jazz and ambient textures into shimmering sonic worlds. Her live sets feel like floating – delicate, immersive, and deeply resonant on a soul level.
Arooj Aftab
A Grammy-winning artist who merges South Asian classical influences with ambient and jazz elements. Her voice transcends language, offering moments of profound stillness and sorrow that echo long after the final note. Plus great instrumentalist on stage, making the live experience unique.
Katarina Gryvul with Alex Guevara
Ukrainian composer Gryvul and Venezuelan visual artist Guevara deliver a multisensory experience that blurs the line between sound and vision. Their performance immerses you completely – a visceral exploration of electroacoustics and digital art.
Ex-Easter Island Head
This Liverpool Four transforms electric guitars into percussive instruments, building hypnotic, rhythmic structures somewhere between minimalism and noise. Live, their music becomes pure kinetic force—impossible to ignore and deeply physical. It’s the Quietus album of 2024, and it’s great to see it live.
Lukas De Clerck
Using forgotten wind instruments and the breath itself as a sound source, De Clerck crafts sonic rituals that are both strange and intimate. His performances engage the body as much as the ears – minimal, visceral, and unique.
Angelsen, Moroz & Tomala
An international trio working at the intersection of electroacoustics, industrial textures, and performance art. Their sets feel more like a ceremonial encounter than a traditional show – unpredictable, intense, and strangely emotional. Another aspect is that this performance would be multisensory.
Wendy Eisenberg
A master improviser and boundary-breaking guitarist, Eisenberg dismantles and reconstructs jazz technique through a punk-DIY lens. Their performances are raw yet sophisticated – full of tension, precision, and exhilarating risk.
Laurie Anderson
A true icon of experimental art, Anderson’s performances blend storytelling, sound, and image into singular, deeply affecting experiences. She can shift your entire worldview with one line—always timely and always transformative.
Full festival playlist
