Leeds Festival: Top 10 acts you must not miss this weekend and why Arctic Monkeys may play new tracks

The Sheffield indie rock legends have just announced their seventh album – The Car – will finally be released in October.

Frontman Alex Turner says it’s a little more band-focussed and less string-laden than 2018’s sophisticated and a little fruity Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino.

The band have been playing a greatest hits set this year – until their most recent show in Switzerland where they debuted new song I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I Am.

Still, the band are keeping tight-lipped on this weekend’s setlist.

So all bets are off until Sunday night when the Arctic Monkeys walk on stage at Bramham Park as Leeds Festival’s closing headliners.

Leeds Festival: Friday, August 26- Sunday, August 28

Top 10 acts you must not miss

Friday, August 26

Main Stage East

1. Run the Jewels 5:20pm

Critically-acclaimed American hip hop duo El-P (Brooklyn-based rapper and producer) and Killer Mike (Atlanta-based rapper) have successfully kept the flag flying for old skool rap since 2013.

2. Charli XCX 7:00pm

English melodic dance-pop act Charli XCX is best known for big hit Boom Clap off her third album Sucker but her latest collection Crash shows her pushing her own musical boundaries.

3. The 1975 9:20pm (Headliner)

The first four albums by imaginative, idiosyncratic pop-rockers The 1975 hit number one in the UK and Being Funny in a Foreign Language, set for release in October, is set to follow suit.

Main Stage West

4. Bastille 6:05pm

Leeds Festival favourites, Bastille's flair for glossy '80s synth textures and arena-friendly choruses reached a zenith on their latest album Give Me the Future which charted at number one in the UK earlier this year.

Saturday, August 27

Main Stage East

5. Dave 9:30pm (Headliner)

London-born rapper Dave's compelling Grime-influenced debut album Psychodrama won the Mercury Prize, as well as Album of the Year at the 2020 Brit Awards.

But can he outshine last year’s Leeds Festival set by Stormzy.

Main Stage West

6. Glass Animals 6:30pm

This Oxford indie synth pop/r&B outfit's song Heat Waves surpassed one billion streams on Spotify and hit number one on the US Billboard charts.

BBC Music Introducing Stage

7. Deadletter 3:55pm

This South London-via-Yorkshire post-punk outfit are fast favourites of Steve Lamacq on BBC 6 Music.

Sunday, August 28

Main stage East

8. Fontaines D.C. 5:05pm

Fierce, honest and scratchily powerful Irish post-punk quintet Fontaines D.C. have staked out their own territory on three albums to date with the most recent Skinty Fia earning them a headline tour of North America.

9. Wolf Alice 6:55pm

The epitome of cohesion, the London-based alt rock band's widescreen traditionalism has conquered most of the world's biggest music festivals.

10. Arctic Monkeys 9:20pm (Headlner)

With their new album The Car on the way, hopes are high for a smattering of new material as well as cherry picks from the Sheffield band's back catalogue.

What else to see at Leeds Festival

Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes - special guests on Saturday on Main Stage East.

Witch Fever - an exciting new band on the heavy scene play on Saturday on Festival Republic Stage.