Freak Slug - 2026

On 24 March 2026, Freak Slug will perform at Yuca in Cologne. Behind the name is Manchester-based artist Xenya Genovese, who frames her project as a narrative intersection of pop culture, internet codes and personal reference points. After initial singles in the early 2020s, she refined her vocabulary through short formats: the EP Videos (2021) with the track “Radio,” followed by I’m In Love (2022) and Viva La Vulva (2023). In 2024 she released her first album, I Blow Out Big Candles, conceived as a closed universe in which sound, visual world and story are considered together, rather than as a loose collection of individual songs.

Coming from the visual arts, Genovese works interdisciplinarily and independently: clips, voice, narration and iconography are developed in parallel. Since 2025 her focus has noticeably shifted to the stage, with stops at SXSW and other UK and European dates such as Latitude, Kendal Calling, Leeds Festival and Rock N Roll Circus. In Cologne she brings this approach to life: autofiction meets a cultural collage gesture, humor and physicality, paired with indie pop and internet aesthetics. The performance relies less on grandiose spectacle than on a clear interplay of text, image and sound.