The Great Escape is thrilled to be announcing an initial line-up of acts to play across its 30 venues in Brighton this May. Crossing genres from Catalan garage to Australian Electro-chant, UK Surf to Canadian Blues, a staggering host of remarkable sounds are on show already. Old or young, jaded or woefully naïve, TGE 2012 will have something to surprise you.

 The initial line-up includes rockers DRY THE RIVER, Danish electro-poppers WHEN SAINTS GO MACHINE, Catalan garage supremos MUJERES, Afrotronic super group AFRICA EXPRESS SOUND SYSTEM**, hard-core Aussie duo DZ DEATHRAYS, Dalston outfit SPECTOR, piping-hot new US bands HOWLER from Minneapolis and FRIENDS from Brooklyn, deranged electro idealist GRIMES, tribal pop Londoners ZULU WINTER, instrumental/electronic four-piece DJANGO DJANGO and Berlin-based pianist NILS FRAHM.

 The festival is world famous for the massive acts who’ve cut their teeth on its stages: highlights include Bon Iver, Adele, Tinie Tempah, Mumford and Sons and Ed Sheeran. This year, with more raw talent on display than is strictly fair on other festivals, the pressure will be on to spot the next big thing amongst the noise.

 The line up so far is as follows:

Africa Express Sound System**/ Dry The River, Spector, We Are the Ocean, Friends, Howler, Zulu Winter, Grimes, DZ Deathrays, Nils Frahm, A Winged Victory For The Sullen, Jamie N Commons, Django Django, Eagulls, Perfume Genius, Com Truise, Δ (Alt-J), When Saints Go Machine, Sonic Boom Six, François And The Atlas Mountains, Bos Angeles, Young Dreams, Doldrums, Weird Dreams, Young Magic, The British Expeditionary Force, Max Cooper, Jinja Safari, College, Graphics, Slow Down, Molasses, Mojo Fury, Mallory Knox, Hawk Eyes, Peace, Yukon Blonde, Emma Louise, Juveniles, Binary, Sing Tank, The Soft, Karlmarx, Inland Sea, Half Moon Run, Owlle, Princess Chelsea, Mesparrow, Stranded Horse, Avalanche City, Trust, The Darcys, Jordan Cook.

Many more to be announced soon.

TGE is  also especially delighted to welcome to the festival Mujeres / Me And The Bees / Seward and Furguson, as part of the lead International partnership with the Institut Ramon Llull, presenting Catalan Sounds – music from Catalonia and the Balearic Islands. More Catalan and Balearic artist confirmations to follow soon.

 Festival programmer Natasha Haddad said: “It feels great to be announcing such amazing acts right off the bat, and there’s plenty more artists of all genres to come. This is a really exciting year for new music and for TGE, and we’re fortunate to be able to showcase some of the greatest talent worldwide.”

 The Great Escape will return to the bustling British seaside city of Brighton from 10th-12th May 2012, presenting festival-goers with over 300 new local and international artists across 30 different venues throughout the city. Running alongside this is the Great Escape convention programme which hosts a variety of insightful industry talks, panel debates, targeted networking sessions and key note interviews for industry professionals and music business fans.

 Festival-goers to TGE this year, for just £30 per night, can set up an affordable and perfectly positioned base at Brighton’s JOURNEYS HOSTEL. Well located in relation to all TGE gig venues, Journey’s uses state-of-the-art triple bunk beds that guarantee all guests receive the lowest price possible for their stay as well as providing a better atmosphere for meeting and interacting with fellow TGE festival goers. It’s got to be better than camping, right?

 **A small number of shows will take place at The Dome in Brighton. The first of the 2012 Dome Shows to be announced is AFRICA EXPRESS SOUND SYSTEM. To ensure guaranteed access at a Brighton Dome Show, attendees can top up their festival wristband for £7 per show, or purchase a separate gig ticket at www.escapegreat.com