FESTIVAL PREVIEW: Summer Series

**With confirmations being made daily, the array of music on offer from festivals in summer 2013 is rapidly growing. Both in the UK and abroad, festivals have been busy securing amazing line-ups to grab the attention of festival-goers, and with so much on offer, deciding where to go for your music fix is going to be a mighty challenge. One festival whose line-up is sure not to disappoint is the Summer Series at Somerset House.**

Hosted in the iconic London venue of Somerset House, this festival is unique in that it is held in the very heart of London. Taking place at the centre of the cultural and artistic scene, the **Summer Series** and the eclectic music on offer there is well situated within the beautiful courtyard. The festival itself takes place from July 11th to July 21st. Each day will see a new artist take to the open air stage, to be joined by their own support acts. The **Summer Series** has already sold out after several days of ticket availability, and it’s not hard to see why.

One of my personal highlights of the festival, and a band whose popularity seems to be exploding, is **Of Monsters And Men**. Tragically I just missed out on tickets to go see the band perform at this exciting venue, but their appearance is certain to be a breathtaking one. With the recent success of their debut album _My Head Is An Animal_ it is no wonder that they are already sold out. Combining their beautiful music and its multitude of instrumental and vocal performances with the atmospheric surrounding of Somerset House is sure to be a spine-tingler. This is just one act that might make this seemingly lower-key festival stand out this summer.

Playing on the day prior to **Of Monsters And Men** will be **First Aid Kit**. The Swedish sister duo have gained great success for their cover of **Fleet Foxes’** ‘Tiger Mountain Peasant Song’, and have a similarly acoustic harmony based sound. However, these girls get better the more you listen to them and have much more to offer than the somewhat disappointing cover. It was clever billing to place them on a consecutive day to the Icelandic troupe **Of Monsters And Men** as both share similar musical tones. This is not to say that festival-goers should not be very excited to see **First Aid Kit** in their own right, and despite not being quite as high-profile, I for one particularly look forward for this performance, as I suspect it will stand out.

Another highlight of the festival is sure to be the appearance of **Alex Clare**. Having seen him last summer at the smaller Hampshire based festival **Blissfields**, I was excited to see this addition to the **Summer Series** line up. On the Somerset House festival website they praise Clare for the fusion of “traditional songwriting with his love of dubstep and bebop records”. Certainly it was this aspect of **Alex Clare** that has won him critical acclaim for his album _The Lateness Of The Hour_ and made the set I saw him perform an electrifying and brilliant one.

These few acts are just a taste of the array of music on offer this summer at Somerset House, which includes **Basement Jaxx**, **Goldfrapp**, **Band Of Horses**, **Lianne La Havas** and **Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros**, to name but a few. So, while this festival may not offer the usual mud, grass, flags and tent dwelling, for me it is a musical attraction to rival any top festival this summer.