Dunk!festival 2026 - Third headliner – We lost the sea

We're here to brighten up by announcing our third headliner for dunk!festival 2026. And the best part, they're performing twice! We Lost The Sea from Australia will bring Departure Songs in full (with guests) on Saturday May 16th and their latest album A Single Flower on May 15th. We have all ingredients in place to make this edition one for the books.

Announcing more bands very soon!

Don't wait too long if you don't have your ticket yet. Ticket sales are going fast and our Belgian government is planning to adjust tax rules for festival tickets, which will of course influence the ticket prices at some point. As soon as we have more details on that, we will of course communicate this to you.

Lineup so far
Russian Circles • Caspian • Pelican • We Lost The Sea (Departure Songs) • The Evpatoria Report • We Lost The Sea (A Single Flower) • Celestial Wolves • Onrust • Bloed • Pothamus • Capitan • Overhead, The Albatross • We.Own.The.Sky • Las 3 Marias

TICKETS & INFO
www.dunkfestival.be

V2 records news – The Hickey Underworld – new single ‘"Constant Wave On A Rock"

THE HICKEY UNDERWORLD Shares New Single
"Constant Wave On A Rock"
New Album"Cold Sun" OUT 13 MARCH 2026
Constant Wave On A Rock - Single by The Hickey Underworld | Spotify

27/03 Live @ Trix, Antwerpen

Last month we celebrated the return of The Hickey Underworld (Younes Faltakh (vocals, guitar), Jonas Govaerts (guitar), Yorgos Tsakiridis (bas) and Jimmy Wouters (drums); with the track "Euromancer" and the announce of "Cold Sun", their fourth album coming out 13 March on V2 Records. Today we release a second single from that album, called "Constant Wave On A Rock".

"Constant Wave On A Rock" hits with a fast, off-kilter reggaeton pulse, pushing indie desert blues into new terrain. The rhythm feels like running downhill at twilight, while the vocal rides a feverish devotion. It's tense, hypnotic, and built for late-night movement. The song carries a heat-struck emotional urgency, like love that's too much to contain.

The Hickey Underworld  was founded by childhood friends Younes Faltakh and Jonas Govaerts. They named themselves after a song by The Nation of Ulysses, one of their favorite bands on Dischord Records, the legendary indie label of Fugazi frontman Ian MacKaye.

That Dischord influence is clearly audible on their self-titled debut album, released in 2009 on the French label Naïve. The album, produced by Bent Van Looy, Niek Meul, and Reinhard Vanbergen of Das Pop, also revealed the band's more pop-oriented side — particularly in the breakout single "Future Words", which received heavy airplay.

Three years later came their second album, I'm Under The House, I'm Dying (2012, PIAS), again produced by Das Pop and mixed by Dave Sardy. In 2015, the band released Ill on the same label, recorded by Niels Hendrix (Fence). The title proved somewhat prophetic: Jonas Govaerts developed a chronic hearing disorder and was temporarily replaced by Tim Van Hamel, the driving force behind Millionaire. Not long after the recordings, Faltakh decided to pull the plug on the group.

Until 2023: during the lockdown, the itch returned. Faltakh, drummer Jimmy Wouters, and bassist Yorgos Tsakiridis found their way back to the rehearsal room. Original member Jonas Govaerts also rejoined.

Not only was the desire back, but also the inspiration: soon after, The Hickey Underworld began recording their long-awaited fourth album. The sessions took place partly with Vanderhasselt and partly in Sweden, where producer Niek Meul has a studio.

The reborn Hickey Underworld found a new home with V2 Records, which will release several singles starting in November, followed by the full album in March. Also planned: a visual teaser created by Govaerts, and a music video directed by the American art collective Everything Is Terrible.

The band also announced several live dates, starting with a release show in Trix on 27th March.

27 March Live @ Trix, Antwerpen

2 April Live @ Cactus Club, Brugge

16 April  Live @ Beurschouwburg, Brussel

08 May Live @ Rotown, Rotterdam

Fake records news – Simon lanceert originele samenwerking met Cinemaketen Lumière
SIMON LANCEERT ORIGINELE SAMENWERKING MET CINEMAKETEN LUMIERE

Het nieuwe album van de Antwerpse artiest Simon zal in de komende maanden telkens integraal afgespeeld worden voor en na alle vertoningen in cinemaketen Lumière. Simon trapt zo een nieuw curatorisch initiatief van Lumière af waarbij ze haar filmpubliek kennis willen laten maken met nieuwe Belgische muziek.

Simon bracht vorige maand zijn tweede album 'Als het neerstort' uit onder Fake Records en bereikte er zowel live, via nationale radio als via de diverse streamingkanalen al een erg breed publiek mee. Daar komt met de samenwerking met cinemaketen Lumière nu een heel deel nieuw publiek bij, namelijk de filmliefhebbers.

Voor de start van iedere film, wanneer het zaallicht nog brandt en bezoekers binnendruppelen, bepaalt muziek de sfeer in de filmzaal. Lumière gebruikt die momenten vanaf nu bewuster, met haar nieuw curatorisch initiatief waarbij één artiest centraal staat in onze zalen. Zijn / haar/ hun nieuwste album vormt de soundtrack van de zaal vóór en na de film: een subtiel, muzikaal voorprogramma dat de bezoeker onbewust meeneemt in een bepaalde sfeer. Tot eind februari zal de bioscoopbezoeker op die manier ondergedompeld worden in de unieke sfeer van het nieuwe album van Simon.

"Met dit concept verbinden we film, muziek en sfeer tot één ervaring — volledig in lijn met waar onze stadsbioscopen voor staan: culturele ontmoetingsplaatsen waar kwaliteit en aandacht voor lokale cultuur primeert, zonder schreeuwerige reclame of storende branding." – Floris Vandekerckhove (Lumière)

Er verschijnt trouwens ook een live-video van een nieuwe single van dat album. De captatie bij het ontroerende 'Loop mezelf voorbij' werd opgenomen op de memorabele releaseshow van Simon in De Roma eind oktober en laat zien en horen dat de Antwerpenaar live alweer enkele niveaus is gegroeid sinds het verschijnen van zijn debuut in 2022.
Simon - Loop mezelf voorbij (Live in De Roma)
Als het neerstort - Album by Simon | Spotify

V2 records news – Caspar Auwerkerken – new single ‘the pond’
CASPAR AUWERKERKEN Releases New Single "The Pond"
From Upcoming Album "Figuring Out My Horizons"
OUT 27 FEBRUARY 2026
The Pond - Single by Caspar Auwerkerken | Spotify
Singer songwriter Caspar Auwerkerken releases "The Pond", the third single from his upcoming debut album "Figuring Out My Horizons", set for release on February 27th on V2 Records. "The Pond" truly embodies the overarching themes of the record which are issues concerning climate change and the search for inner peace.

"The Pond" is one of the more personal songs on the album. It describes a spiritual experience within a natural environment — literally becoming 'immaterial,' yet at the same time feeling completely one with your surroundings. In this sense, Caspar refers to philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson's concept of the 'transparent eyeball': the idea of fully merging with one's environment. "The Pond" also alludes to Walden Pond and Henry David Thoreau's classic book Walden, in which Thoreau describes living self-reliantly in a handmade cabin in the woods near the shore of Walden Pond. It's no coincidence that also Caspar writes his songs in the natural surroundings that inspire him most — at a fixed writing spot in a forest near his home.

The Pond forms a clear example of Caspar Auwerkerken's songwriting, where he draws inspiration from  philosophy, visual art, and the natural world. A central theme concerns how humanity deals with climate change in a world that is becoming increasingly materialistic and detached.

"Tell them about the way it looked
And the way you smiled, as I'm figuring out my horizons
Give it time, and try"

The song also contains the words that form the title of the album. "Figuring Out My Horizons"  can be understood in two different ways. On the one hand, it refers to finding one's own place in the world: horizons confront us with what is still unknown, with that which lies beyond— a space of non-identity. Learning how to engage with this space of non-identity can guide us in finding our place in the world: only by recognizing what we are not can we begin to understand who we truly are. In that sense, it is a plea for openness toward the unknown.

On the other hand, the title can also be understood on a broader level: how is the Earth being reshaped in the era of the Anthropocene and climate change? And are there still places left unknown to a species obsessed with the idea of always wanting more? Horizons remind us that our planet is transforming and that its relationship with humankind is evolving in new and unprecedented ways.

9.12 Live @ AB, Brussels (support for Portland)

31.03 Live @ Depot, Leuven (release show)

02.04 Live @Club AFF, Hasselt