Delayed x Perpendicular: Rachael
In a world hooked on instant likes and endless scrolls, where festival lineups are often built for clicks more than for ears, there’s still a place that pushes all that noise into the background. It sits somewhere off the grid, far from signal bars and push notifications, a pocket of the world where music still feels sacred.
You drive for hours into the Spanish mainland, trading highways for dusty roads and the smell of pine. And then you arrive at this gathering that’s not quite a festival. “Celebration” fits better. A celebration of music, connection, good energy and the rare joy of forgetting who’s “headlining” and just letting the sound carry you wherever it wants.
It’s friends, and friends of friends. People whose names you might see on record sleeves or festival flyers, but here they’re just part of the crowd. No green rooms, no special wristbands. No one’s counting bar sales or stressing over ticket numbers. It’s purely about the music, the real reason most of us fell in love with this scene in the first place.
From Friday afternoon to a very late Sunday, the music rolls non-stop. Daytime means dancing upright under blue skies. By night, things stretch into horizontal territory in a magical cabaña, where ambient and experimental sets ripple through the dark. Every DJ seems to arrive knowing precisely what belongs in their timeslot, crafting an arc so seamless you start questioning whether sleep is even worth it. Monday comes for you looking like your parachute didn’t open, but the grin on your face says otherwise. And the moment you leave, you’re already asking yourself how you’re supposed to wait a whole year to do it again.
This hidden corner of paradise is called Perpendicular Festival, or Perpen, for short, a brainchild of the crew behind Espacio Perpendicular in Madrid.
This year was Delayed’s first time joining the adventure, and we came back determined to share pieces of what made it unforgettable. Over the next months, we’ll be rolling out sets that capture different moods and times of the weekend, hoping to transmit even a fraction of the magic in those woods.
We’re starting with a burst of energy: Madrid’s best-kept secret, Rachael, who took over on Sunday night. By then, the dancefloor was running on adrenaline alone, and as darkness settled in, she shifted things into high gear. After Sciama’s mind-bending trip, Rachael stepped up and commanded the space, unleashing a set where syncopated beats, UK breaks, and halftime, all collided in perfect chaos. The pine trees caught every echo. The crowd surged with new life. It was one of those sets that reminds you why underground music scenes will always survive and why you stay awake just a few hours longer even when your legs are begging for mercy.
We’re proud to open this year's Delayed x Perpendicular series with her set. Tune in, and get a taste of why it instantly felt like home.