WOMAD 2025: PROTOJE + THE INDIGGNATION

Announced in November last year, Jamaican reggae artist Protoje and his band The Indiggnation will be joining the huge international line-up at WOMAD 2025 at Taranakie this year.  

The Roots reggae revivalist has gained international acclaim with a number of hits, including 'Who Knows'  ft Chronixx (215 million YouTube views and counting) – an anthem that was heard blaring through every sound system and party in Jamaica. 

Over the past 20 years, Protoje's recorded seven albums and many collabs with artists such as Jorja Smith, Alicia Keys and Wiz Khalifa.  

In 2015, he stepped into the mainstream as part of the “reggae revival” movement, gaining attention because of the addictive melodies and conscious lyrics.  

Born in Saint Elizabeth, to singers Lorna Bennett (Breakfast in Bed) and calypso singer Mike Ollivierre, Protoje blends hip hop, soul and jazz into the sounds of his native reggae and dancehall. 

He has performed on shows such as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and NPR’s Tiny Desk, toured to festivals including the Roots Picnic, Coachella and Glastonbury and received two Grammy nominations for Best Reggae Album, for A Matter Of Time (2018) and Third Time’s The Charm (2022).

His song "Switch It Up" with Koffee shined as the 2nd Song Selected on Barack Obama's 2021 Summer Playlist. 

He has toured with Ms. Lauryn Hill, headlined sold out shows and appeared on major festivals including Roots Picnic (U.S.), Coachella (US), Glastonbury (UK), Afropunk (US), Reading & Leeds (UK), Sole DXB (Dubai) and Lollapalooza (Chile), reaching audiences far and wide with his genre-fusing sound. 

He also founded his own label and management company Indiggnation Collective, "a significant incubator for Jamaica's new emerging soundscape" (NYLON) which signed talent from the island.  

In 2020, he inked individual deals for himself and Indiggnation Collective artists Lila Iké, Sevana and Jaz Elise with RCA Records. 

Protoje is an artist acutely aware of the passage of time, as evident by his album discography: 7 Year Itch, The 8 Year Affair, Ancient Future, A Matter Of Time, In Search of Lost Time and Third Time's The Charm. He received his two Best Reggae Album GRAMMY nominations for 2018’s A Matter Of Time and 2022’s Third Time's The Charm.

WOMAD 2025: Delgres

French power trio Delgres reinvent the blues into a sound that is a mix of hypnotised rock, earthy soul and caustic, anarchic garage. 

The Band is named after a hero in the fight against slavery in the French Caribbean, where singer-songwriter Pascal Danaë’s ancestors were once enslaved. His ancestors were enslaved on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe.  That ancester was Louis Delgrès, who led the fight against the re-institution of slavery there in 1802.  The island is where their musical journey begins, with the title track from their new album, '4 Ed Maten' (4 a.m). 

They're based in France, but their lyrics are mostly sung in Creole – and they tell stories, both lyrically and musically.  Their music is a vibrant vehicle for expressions of Danaë’s personal adventures, inner journey and family history. 

Building on his Caribbean touch, is the powerful beat of Baptiste Brondy’s drums and Rafgee’s reptilian bass lines on the tuba. A singer, songwriter, composer and musician, Danaë has worked with Peter Gabriel, Youssou N’Dour, Laurent Voulzy, Neneh Cherry, Ayo, Gilberto Gil and more, but feels that everything in his life so far has led to this moment and to Delgres.  

WOMAD 2025: Not Drowning, Waving + Talek

Not Drowning, Waving formed in Melbourne in 1983 by David Bridie and John Phillips making music which comprises elements of rock, ambient music and world music; their lyrics dealt with characteristically Australian topics: word-pictures of landscapes and people, the seasons, and some political issues – such as Indonesia's invasion of East Timor. 

The group have released six studio albums and two soundtracks before disbanding in 1994 (and briefly reformed in 2001, 2003 and 2005–2006).  From 2005 to 2007, they issued three compilation albums. Not Drowning, Waving won the ARIA Award for Best Independent Release at the ARIA Music Awards of 1992 for Proof, their soundtrack for the 1991 film of the same name. 

In 1991, Bridie and fellow members of Not Drowning, Waving, formed a side-project, My Friend The Chocolate Cake to play more acoustic-based material.  

They reunite with renowned Papua New Guinean musician George Telek to celebrate 35 years of Tabaran.  George Telek Mamua MBE, commonly known simply as Telek, is a musician and singer from Papua New Guinea. He has won one ARIA Award for this 1997 self-titled album. Telek sings in his native language, Kuanua, and in Tok Pisin. Many of his songs are sung in three-part harmonies that are characteristic of the Tolai.

Inspired by the rhythms of Rabaul, a culturally-rich town in PNG, the album fuses the band’s avant-garde pop-rock with local harmonies, melodies, and instruments. Rabaul is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about 600 kilometres to the east of the island of New Guinea.

Their WOMAD Aotearoa performance unites original Tabaran musicians with dynamic new talent from PNG and Australia, honouring both the album’s legacy and PNG’s upcoming 50th anniversary of independence.