A few weeks ago, the pioneering Barcelona-based festival made its mark once again with a programme that resonated across the city.
For three days, TIMES co-curations took part in music, ideas and experimentation.
Arp Frique & The Perpetual Singers
The opening TIMES act of this year happened with Arp Frique & The Perpetual Singers, taking over SonarVillage.
Arp and his group created an immersive experience for the audience, blending vintage analog synth sounds with elements of funk, soul, and beautiful vocals.
Afterwards, another stage – SonarHall, lit up with the performance of electroclash pioneer,
The Hacker
Lady Shaka b2b Tash LC
Lady Shaka and Tash LC got together for a B2B that combined queer club culture with global bass reinterpretations, and banger remixes.
In the discourse programme of the day 1:
Coding session: Performance as a code
Workshop: Internet2 – The Wishlist
Jam: Tesseract Modular
Across the festival’s two days, people also had the opportunity to watch TIMES documentary The Talk and explore the Internet 2 exhibition.
Day 2 opened with another back-to-back set, this time pairing Amaliah and Pangaea for a selection of bass-driven techno and UK club sounds.
Amaliah b2b Pangaea
GOTH-TRAD
Later that day, on another stage, the titan of Japanese dub delivered a set of low-frequency, slow-burning sonics, drawing on a range of styles while remaining both austere and dynamic.
This year’s festival programme brought together both pioneering artists and exciting new stars. Among them is French artist RONI, celebrated for her boundary-defying style and her passion for blending diverse musical sounds.
RONI
YHWH Nailgun
Sónar embraced all styles, with rock represented by New York–based YHWH Nailgun in an intense and explosive performance.
As part of Sonar+D programme, a masterclass led by Luca Cingolani aka Outer, explained on his example on how he generates real-time visuals using AI, drawing on his experience on the TIMES co-curation ‘The Talk’.
The day programme, as a tradition was wrapped up with a live sunset modular jam by FREE NORMAN, powered by Antonus.
Akua
Making her Sónar debut this year, Akua, delivered a classic techno set, blending minimalism, intensity and raw energy.
Danielle b2b Ryan Elliott
B2B of real dance music that is hard to define.
Another collaboration of this year, united FJAAK and Kittin.
FJAAK and Kittin live
DJ MARIIA., new representative of Japanese techno, took over the stage with a deep, textured set, marking her first performance at the festival.
DJ MARIA.
Namasenda
ROLROLROL
Georgian artist SALOME returned to Sónar with a solo set defined by fast, hard, and seductive soundscapes.
SALOME
Returning to artists who have helped define today’s sound, Wata Igarashi stands out as a master of Japanese techno. His Sónar performance unfolded like a spiral, guiding the audience through shifting textures—delicate, powerful, subtle, and psychedelic.
Wata Igarashi
