As Laneway Festival approaches, we take a look at notable screen moments soundtracked by its awesome lineup.
Laneway Festival returns to Australia and New Zealand soon, kicking off in Auckland on Jan 30 and then traveling across Australia in early February with a massive bill featuring Haim, Fred Again.., Joji, Phoebe Bridgers, Turnstile, Finneas, Fontaines D.C., The Beths, and plenty, plenty more. Check out the full lineups for Adelaide, Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.
If you don’t have tickets yet, buy Australian tix here and NZ tix here—otherwise, read on as we look at some notable (and some possibly less so) big and small screen moments soundtracked by this year’s Laneway acts.
Haim
Nine years on from their first appearance at Laneway, fresh off their huge debut Days Are Gone, Haim return with two more big albums under their belts. Women in Music Pt. III was the last full-length Haim album, released in 2020, and since then we’ve heard their music turn up in a few different places – like this year’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.
The band recently announced they’re back in the studio working on record number four, using Mia Goth’s dialogue from Pearl to riff on Alana Haim’s starring role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza.
@haimtheband Haim4
Alana may have got the lion’s share of Licorice Pizza screen time—hugely impressing in her feature starring debut—but as the clips below show, the Haim sisterly (and fatherly!) vibes come through strong.
Maybe too strong?
Fred Again..
Fred Again.. has been thrilling listeners and filling dancefloors over the last couple years with his infectious, deeply personal productions—and work alongside the likes of FKA Twigs, BTS, Stormzy, Jamie xx and plenty more. Oh, like his other collaborators Brian Eno and Underworld’s Karl Hyde, for instance.
Phoebe Bridgers
Phoebe Bridgers’ second album Punisher blew listeners away in 2020, her sadness-tinged singer-songwriter energy captivating the public and critics alike. Bridgers’ skeleton suit and knack for social media have become a fixture in the recent cultural landscape, and outside her solo work, she’s recently been teaming up with folks like Taylor Swift, Lorde and The Killers.
She may have made some lame old dudes mad when she smashed a guitar on SNL, but generally Bridgers’ music has been used to soundtrack delicate, difficult moments onscreen. Like… when Gru fired the Minions in Minions: The Rise of Gru (yes, Sherlock, this one is a Carpenters cover):
Bridgers’ own work showed up to strong effect in 2021’s superb series Mare of Easttown, where I Know the End soundtracked an emotional meltdown for Angourie Rice’s character, Mare’s daughter Siobhan.
I know the end by phoebe bridgers playing in mare of easttown i collapsed pic.twitter.com/v9nRN1q6yR
— مربع 🧡 (@HxAychex) May 9, 2022
Turnstile
(Not playing all shows – check your city’s lineup for details)
Exploding out of Baltimore’s hardcore scene and broadening their palette with 2021’s explosive, hook-laden Glow On, Turnstile is the band I’m most looking forward to seeing at Laneway after hearing how phenomenal they are live (and spending too much time watching Turnstile shows on YouTube).
No surprise then, that Turnstile’s music has the right sort of energy to soundtrack… a comedy show’s fight scene. Long-running Canadian comedy Letterkenny has featured plenty of scraps over its eleven seasons, pitting hicks, skids, and hockey players against each other in rural Ontario. Here the dust-up is accompanied by Big Smile, from Turnstile’s 2018 album Time & Space.
The band themselves seem to love video, documenting their tour with 20+ videos of various tour stops on their YouTube channel in recent months. And they released the below short film to coincide with new material in 2021, songs that would end up on the Glow On album.
Finneas
Yes, Finneas is Billie Eilish’s brother, playing a key role as a songwriter and producer in her ascent, while also striking out as an increasingly successful artist in his own right. His knack for a tune has netted Finneas Grammy awards and even an Oscar, for the 007 theme he performed alongside his sister at last year’s Academy Awards.
Not that Finneas is solely serious or sombre. Pixar’s Turning Red featured three songs written by Finneas and Eilish for fictional boy band 4*TOWN (I guess Disney wouldn’t permit 4*PLAY). Finneas also appears as a member of said boy band (for the record, 4*TOWN not 4*PLAY).
slowthai
Is slowthai grime, screamo, rap, or punk? Maybe a bit of all the above, though many settle on “grime-punk”. Nominated for Britain’s prestigious Mercury Prize (where he performed brandishing a mock-up of Boris Johnson’s severed head) for his debut album Nothing Great About Britain, slowthai went on to collaborate with Skepta, James Blake, A$AP Rocky and Denzel Curry on his 2021 album Tyron, and in turn has featured on songs by Gorillaz and Idles.
No surprise then, that slowthai is a great choice to soundtrack the frustration and anger of an ending world. Adam McKay’s apocalyptic satire Don’t Look Up may have been patchy, but among its highlights was a supporting role from a Tiger King-mulleted Timothée Chalamet, playing much younger than Jennifer Lawrence’s character—but hey, if the world’s ending, who cares? Why not frantically make out?
Joji
Laneway boasts Joji’s first shows down under, and he’s leaped straight into headliner status. Perhaps surprising given his lo-fi sound, that billing corresponds with a fast-growing and enthusiastic fanbase that we can expect to see out in full force. Joji’s Laneway bio notes “a reputation for vast and cinematic live shows,” which are obviously words to Flicks’ ears.
Onscreen, Joji’s been used to accompany tender, difficult moments, as seen in these clips from Animal Kingdom and the US version of Shameless.
girl in red
This Norwegian teenager’s queer alt-pop songs won over audiences worldwide with their confessional power, and these dedicated fans will delight in seeing girl in red play live at Laneway. Counting the likes of Phoebe Bridgers, Clairo and Taylor Swift (on whose massive Eras Tour girl in red will be opening a number of shows), and constantly connecting with listeners on an emotional level, girl on red found themselves the most played female artist on alt radio with single Serotonin.
Romantic drama Heartstopper, exploring the coming-of-age of gay and trans teens at an English high school, uses their song Girls to winning effect below.
The Beths
Aotearoa’s The Beths have been conquering the world with their infectious indie-pop in recent years, and will attract plenty of fans at Laneway. Maybe one dressed like a skeleton? When asked “what is the best song ever to sum up the happiest moment in your life?” by Laneway alum Charli XCX on her Best Song Ever podcast, Phoebe Bridgers’ reply was The Beths’ Jump Rope Gazers, saying it “just filled me with unbridled joy”.
You and us both, mate.
Look, lots of people on this list have had their songs synced—The Beths included—but why muck around with that when they also have their own full-length concert film, shot at the Auckland Town Hall by fantastic filmmaking collaborators Sports Team? Exactly.
