WOMEN OF COACHELLA
By: Jillian Pennington
It’s that time of year again. The lineups are dropping. Opinions are being tossed around left and right. Our goal at WIP is to highlight the incredible women and non-binary artists that will be taking the stage in the desert this spring.
Thankfully, the rate at which women are being booked for festivals has been steadily increasing over the years. According to Book More Women, in 2022, 39.8% of musical acts booked for 8 major US music festivals featured at least one woman or non-binary permanent member, compared to 27.1% in 2018. This is progress, but there is still a huge discrepancy between the number of male artists and the number of women and non-binary artists on the lineup.
We’ve created a curated WIP x Coachella playlist for you to explore all of the incredible women and non-binary musicians featured this year. And, below you can find a short list of a few artists we are most excited to see on the line-up this year.
Alt-Pop
Ethel Cain is the alter-ego of Hayden Silas Anhedönia, born in Tallahassee, Florida. In 2018, Anhedönia began telling the story of Ethel Cain's fictional journey through escaping the religious structures of her upbringing, facing abuse, kidnapping, drug abuse, and cannibalism. We recommend listening to Preacher's Daughter in order to really grasp the conceptual story line, but if that sounds overwhelming, American Teenager is a great place to start. Crush is another big favorite.
R&B/Neo-Soul
Seattle native Umi brings a very special warmth and honesty to the R&B space. She has been releasing music since 2017 making for an impressive range of unique records. Her uplifting sound on tracks such as Ordinary and Pretty Girl hi! highlight her youthful energy and make for a great windows down, sunroof open kind of jam. On tracks like Butterfly and Remember Me you can feel the depth and emotional importance of her writing.
Check out her debut album Forest in the City released in May of 2022.
Alt-Rock
Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten released their debut LP ‘Two of Me’ in 2020 and since then have developed into a prolific duo in the Alt-Rock world. Their latest album ‘Household Name’ landed them incredible reviews from publications like Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, NME, and NPR. Drawing influence from icons such as Veruca Salt and Smashing Pumpkins, their sound is unique and memorable.
Check out their latest album, Household Name, for our favorite hits like Motorbike and Tall Home.
Indie-Rock/Indie-Pop
Hailing all the way from a small, sparsely populated island in the UK, Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers released their debut single Chaise Lounge in 2021. The unique, funky, deadpan, sound quickly spread across the internet and became a fast hit. Since then, the duo has released their first self-titled album, opened for Harry Styles and performed on Jimmy Kimmel.
Their song Wet Dream is an instant classic and we definitely recommend a full listen of their album.
Who is on your festival shortlist this year? Let us know on instagram! @wip.wav