The Trans Musicales de Rennes unveil the program for their 45th edition

The Trans Musicales festival in Rennes presented the poster for its 2023 edition on Thursday with nearly 80 artists and around thirty nationalities to explore the entire range of musical genres “in search of the unprecedented and the unclassifiable”.

Pop, rock, electro, funk, jazz and all their imaginable combinations in English, French, Italian, Welsh, Indonesian... The 45th edition, which will be held in different locations in Rennes from December 6 to 9, remains faithful to its vocation to introduce new artists and musical worlds to tens of thousands of festival-goers.

After the revelation of Zaho de Sagazan last year, the Trans have this time entrusted their “creation” to the young Yamê, a French artist with hybrid hip-hop, inspired as much by rap as gospel or his Cameroonian childhood, with vocals carried by a high and strong voice.

On the rock side, always well represented at Trans Musicales, festival-goers will be able to discover the veterans of the energetic Dalton trio with their explosive compositions in French, and the young British guns of The Silver Lines. Between explosive guitars, science of pop melody and insolently chewed gum, they have all the ingredients required to become rock stars: “We signed them straight after seeing them in concert,” said Jean- Louis Brossard, artistic director and co-founder of Trans.

Funk lovers should not miss Mokthar, an instrumental quintet from Rennes which combines an electric bassoon and a saxophone to explore oriental landscapes, sometimes contemplative and sometimes frenetic, while fans of muscular psychedelic pop will be delighted by the Italians of Post Nebbia.

Unclassifiable musical UFOs are somewhat the trademark of Trans Musicales. And the 45th edition has its share of extra-terrestrials with for example the Californians of Thumpasaurus, a crazy cross between James Brown and Philippe Katerine, the “Croatian crooner” Fran Vasilic, who made himself known on TikTok with his fake tunes of Borat or the terrifying sonic sorcery of the Irishwoman Bambie Thug.

The Indonesians from Nusantara Beat should also create a surprise with their delicious compositions, as will the Welsh Cerys Hafana and her triple harp (92 strings) and the Spaniard Raül Refree. Best known until now as a producer (Rosalia), this jack-of-all-trades composer will present for the first time outside Spain a musical creation inspired by Monteverdi, for three evenings hosted at the Rennes Opera.