End Of The Road 2015

As rock clichés go, “returns to his roots” is down there with the worst of them. Nevertheless, that’s precisely what Sufjan Stevens did following The Age Of Adz, revisiting both the folk sound of his early career and some emotionally-complex familial relationships. The results were showcased on this year’s spectacularly beautiful, incredibly moving full-length Carrie & Lowell. As Stevens’ Friday night set at End Of The Road is destined to be packed full of his fantastic new material, we suggest you take along a hanky or five.

Formerly with Helium, Autoclave and punk-rock supergroup Wild Flag, Mary Timony founded Ex Hex in 2013, alongside bassist Betsy Wright and drummer Laura Harris. A year later, the D.C. rockers’ muscular debut was greeted with swathes of rave reviews, including a perfect score from The Guardian, who praised the trio’s “majestic powerpop” and declared Rips “the air-guitar album of the year.” See them live in the Big Top on Saturday, and prepare to be steamrollered by the killer combination of raw punk energy and unshakeable hooks.

There can’t be many songwriters who can slip the lyric, “She was holding hands with Trevor, not the greatest feeling ever,” into a song and emerge unscathed. It’s credit to Kevin Parker’s sheer creativity that notoriously-pernickety critics everywhere have not only let that clanger slide but gone on to hail his third LP as one of 2015’s finest offerings. Quite right too: Currents is a veritable psych-pop odyssey, subtly infused with disco, funk and soul. Hear its manifold highlights during the Aussie rockers' headline show on Saturday.