Unsafe+Sounds is presenting a thrilling, and atmospheric night that moves from poetic improvisation to hypnotic spoken word, from ecstatic percussion and prepared piano to expressive electronics, featuring two protagonists of the thriving South East London underground scene.

Festival-headliner COBY SEY sets the tone for this year’s edition. Sey is a London-based producer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist whose music moves like stream of consciousness – shape-shifting between trip hop, post-grime, jazz, noise, techno, and spoken word. A fixture of London’s underground, Sey’s critically acclaimed debut album Conduit (AD 93) channels the psychogeography of a city stitched together in low frequencies, nocturnal synths, surreal vocals and sonic fog. Co-founder of CURL (with Mica Levi and Brother May), longtime collaborator with Tirzah, Klein, Laurel Halo, Dean Blunt and others, Sey builds music like a conversation: open-ended, morphing, vital, thick with lived time. In Vienna he’ll perform with his band CONTINUE, consisting of Momoko Gil and Raisa K.

Belinda Zhawi aka MA.MOYO is a Zimbabwean born sound artist and writer, based in London. Zhawi’s work explores the African diaspora and deepens the connection between education and art. Her singular voice is the main character of her deeply auratic performances move between spoken word, experimental electronics and free jazz. MA.MOYO heavily collaborates with musicians in the ever growing London jazz and beat-making scene and is active as the duo BZDB (AD93).

Local support comes from the new Vienna-based duo by LUKAS KÖNIG & KASHO CHUALAN. Lukas König is a percussionist, composer, and producer whose practice spans noise, hip hop, experimental electronics, and improvised music. Known for his raw, restless energy and adventurous approach to sound, he uses drums, pedals, and electronics to build dense, unpredictable tracks. A sought-after collaborator, he has worked with Moor Mother, Dälek, Farida Amadou, Elvin Brandhi, Klangforum Wien, Mariam Rezaei, and many others. Kasho Chualan is a Kurdish-Canadian pianist, composer, and sound artist based in Vienna. Her work explores the emotional and physical textures of sound by breaking boundaries through performance and experimental improvisation. Using prepared piano, electronics, toys, and everyday objects, she challenges traditional ways instruments are played .

The Vienna based festival Unsafe+Sounds foregrounds experimental, electronic, and club music alongside socio-cultural discourse and artistic practices that stretch and subvert contemporary templates. The presented formats range from concerts, performances, DJ-sets, readings, installations, screenings, to artist talks, key notes, and panel discussions. Around 70 international and local artists and speakers will be featured from September 2–7 across various locations in the city.

Eine Veranstaltung von Unsafe+Sounds 2025 - Festival for challenging sounds & discourse