Best Fit's SXSW London party line-up: Sam Akpro, Cosmorat, Inspector Spacetime, Marsy and more

An incredible lineup of talks, live performances, film screenings, art and music will take over dozens of venues, galleries, clubs and spaces in Shoreditch for the first week of June.

The festival is set to transform the cultural landscape of the capital and after almost a decade showcasing at SXSW in Texas, Best Fit will be there to open the event with a line-up we've handpicked from the last 18 months of music discovery here in London and across Europe.

Everything kicks off from 3pm and runs through to 10pm at Juju's in Ely's Yard, right at the centre of the festival's base in Brick Lane's Truman Brewery.

South London’s Sam Akpro captures life through his own lens: dark streets, anxieties, the malaise of a city that never sleeps – these make up the sonic world of his expansive debut album, Evenfall, which dropped in March this year. Through its world-building soundscapes and inward-looking lyrics, it’s a palpable reminder that life may not always be pretty, but more importantly, it’s always real.

With their self-titled debut album, dance-pop band Inspector Spacetime made waves in the Icelandic music scene in early 2020 and built a rep as the best live band in Iceland right now. The trio's sound is an ode to the European dance music scene throughout the decades, channeling everyone from Daft Punk, The Prodigy and Charli xcx, to 2Unlimited and Confidence Man.

After two albums on 4AD, singer-songwriter Pixx is back as part of new project Marsy. There’s no music out yet but what we’ve heard promises an incredible future from the London-based five piece: effortless songwriting, timeless melodies and a captivating live dynamic.

Cosmorat makes huge sounding alt-pop that feels as informed by the blues and fuzzy 90s rock as it does by avant-garde trailblazers like Fiona Apple. The US two piece - now based in London – make music for all the people who like to have dirt under their fingernails and who cry when the sunset over the decommissioned steel mill is far too beautiful to comprehend.

Interscope-signed 21-year-old Teo Planell is a key part of new emerging Madrid scene with a sound that channels futuristic pop, indie-folk and the artists such as Bon Iver, Frank Ocean and Dijon mixed with classic influences like Nick Drake, Simon & Garfunkel or Sufjan Stevens. He’s currently prepping his debut album for release later this year.

The spiritual daughter of the London soul scene and the second coming of Bardot, Ava Joe is in possession of an extraordinary voice which aches with the blues as if she's walked this earth before us and knows the foibles of the heart all too well. Her music belongs in the city's late-night jazz bars and the small hours of the morning while you think about a certain someone.