The lineup for Primavera Sound 2022 Barcelona – Sant Adrià is not only the best in its history. It is also the biggest, the most eclectic, the most impressive, the most stellar. The most Primavera. The one that needs the most time to unleash all its uniqueness. As revealed through a majestic ad by Cupra, on June 2nd, 2022 an edition will start that will be absolutely historic because it will be something never seen before: an 11-day urban festival with an exceptional line-up in which the whole city will be involved with six days in the Parc del Fòrum plus a party on the beach of Sant Adrià de Besòs and four days in the venues of Barcelona. An extraordinary edition that is explained by the combination of the two years without a festival that we have had to face and the desire to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Primavera Sound as it deserves to be celebrated.

We have not had Primavera Sound for two years. The organisation and the fans and artists. So the first weekend of the festival, which will open between 2nd and 4th June in the Parc del Fòrum, will take us back to those editions that could not be. That is why organisers will continue to have, as in the 2021 lineup, the legendary THE STROKES, the rebellious TYLER, THE CREATOR, the exclusive comeback of PAVEMENT, the collective catharsis of TAME IMPALA, the eternal innovators MASSIVE ATTACK, the style fusion of GORILLAZ, the familiarity of THE NATIONAL, R&B star JORJA SMITH and the winner BECK. Joining all of them is NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS, who come to complete a stellar and intergenerational list of headliners who will finally pay off an outstanding debt with the fans who were so eager to see them.

But this is only the tip of the iceberg, of course. The zoom in already begins with most of the names from the 2021 lineup that confirm their presence along with some surprises: from the return of BAUHAUS to the 2020 queen CHARLI XCX, from the overpowering electronic music by DISCLOSURE to the Mallorca legend MARIA DEL MAR BONET, from C. TANGANA now El Madrileño to the punk resistance of IDLES, from the patron of Argentine trap DUKI to the k-pop band DREAMCATCHER, from a new meeting with BEACH HOUSE to the first time with the hyperpop of 100 GECS, from the digital diva CAROLINE POLACHEK to the crooner from hell KING KRULE, from the pandemonium of EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN to KACEY MUSGRAVES‘ golden hour country, from the Queen BAD GYAL to JAWBOX’S hardcore claws, from JAMIE XX’S coloured beats to BIKINI KILL’S riot proclamations, from the lysergic folk of SHARON VAN ETTEN to the icon KIM GORDON. Hip hop? No collective is more on form than BROCKHAMPTON and no soloist as exuberant as LITTLE SIMZ. Soul? Lay down at the feet of MAVIS STAPLES. Guitars? You will be able to catch KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD for their first performance of many at the festival, and also FONTAINES D.C., DINOSAUR JR. and PARQUET COURTS. And watch out for SLOWTHAI because he can no longer be pigeonholed as rap. In the same way that GIRL IN RED can no longer be pigeonholed as bedroom pop. More electronic? The mould breaker DJ SHADOW, the pioneers AUTECHRE, or of course CARIBOU because can’t do without him. Urban pop? The Chilean phenomenon PALOMA MAMI. Local stars? The prodigious AMAIA and MANEL’S hit factory. Party? We left PABLLO VITTAR in charge of that with her colossal queer pop.

Of course, zooming in even more is where you will find the greatest delicacies and the most interesting contrasts of this first week. Be it the extreme proposals by NAPALM DEATH, LIGHTNING BOLT, THE ARMED, BLACK MIDI, EVIAN CHRIST and THE CARETAKER, the pop explosions of RINA SAWAYAMA and HANNAH DIAMOND, the revisited vision of tradition by LES AMAZONES D’AFRIQUE, ZA! & LA TRANSMEGACOBLA and RODRIGO CUEVAS with his show Barbián, BIG FREEDIA’S iconoclastic bounce and OTOBOKE BEAVER’S punk from Japan. And yes, you don’t have to zoom in further to see that SHELLAC, whatever happens, will still be there. For a long time, we hope.

But organisers wanted more. Because the world has not stopped turning despite the fact that it has slowed down and that they have spent a few months at home. If something has helped them to cope with this whole situation, it has been culture, music, and that is why they could not celebrate an edition of Primavera Sound in 2022 without counting on those artists who have accompanied them in recent months or whom we have been waiting for years. Like DUA LIPA, who published her highly celebrated Future Nostalgia in full lockdown and made us dance round the living room; or LORDE, who will emerge from her retirement after her unforgettable visit in 2018; and MEGAN THEE STALLION, who is right now the cornerstone that explains American rap thanks to her album Good News; and the YEAH YEAH YEAHS and INTERPOL, who will act as representatives of that venerated New York scene of the early 2000s. To make the celebration complete, some headliners from the first weekend will also act during this one, offering an alternative so that no one will miss their performances. THE STROKES, TYLER, THE CREATOR, TAME IMPALA, GORILLAZ, MASSIVE ATTACK and JORJA SMITH are also in for Weekend 2.

CHARLI XCX, C. TANGANA, BAD GYAL and KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD will also repeat performances, among others, but most of the lineup for the second weekend will be new and will respond to what has happened in the world of music during the last months. So, in addition to the announced comeback of ANTÒNIA FONT and the return of LA MAFIA DEL AMOR (one of the cult names of the Spanish urban music scene), BIG THIEF will come back to the festival to offer us their emotional rawness, RUN THE JEWELS will thrash out their revolutionary hip hop, star outsider M.I.A. will set the stage on fire, JESSIE WARE will make us dance spontaneously, SLOWDIVE and MOGWAI will relive their love affair with the festival, PLAYBOI CARTI will reveal his infectious rap, CAZZU, KHEA and NICKI NICOLE will act as envoys of the effervescent Argentinian trap scene, SEN SENRA will culminate his ascent to the olympus of pop in Spanish, PERFUME will dazzle with their high energy j-pop, BURNA BOY will demonstrate why pop has been watching Nigeria for some time, the legend GILLES PETERSON will delight diggers, COURTNEY BARNETT will convince us that rock is still exciting, CLAIRO will justify her being considered the voice of her generation and BRITTANY HOWARD will give us goosebumps with her unrivalled stage power.