Viral star announced as show opener at Depot Live at Cardiff Castle

Viral star Joshua Idehen is the latest name announced for TK Maxx presents Depot Live at Cardiff Castle – opening the show for Ivor Novello Award-winning singer-songwriter and actor Self Esteem.

Hailed as one of the UK’s most exciting breakout stars of the past decade Self Esteem will play Cardiff Castle on Friday July 24. Joshua Idehen joins previously announced special guest songwriter, poet, playwright and recording artist Kae Tempest.

British-Nigerian Joshua’s new album I Know You’re Hurting, Everyone Is Hurting, Everyone Is Trying, You Have Got To Try, with creative partner, musician Ludvig Parment, launches next week. The work is described as an urgent but transcendent collection that holds you through it all, filled with grief, euphoria and hope.

2025 saw sold out shows and packed-out festival performances at Glastonbury and Green Man, following support for the pair from the likes of Jamz Supernova and Huw Stephens, an appearance on Later with Jools Holland, and a support slot on Baxter Dury’s European tour this winter.

The renewed success of a two-decade career coming thanks to the viral success of track Mum Does The Washing, a wry and whip-smart poem examining how the world works.

For Idehen, this is all so special because it marked a new era of his career after around two decades of writing poetry. “In a nutshell, the song has changed my life,” he says.

Self Esteem, aka Rebecca Lucy Taylor, has entered 2026 as a bona fide triple threat in music, literature and acting – following the release of her hugely acclaimed third album and debut book, both titled A Complicated Woman.

The album’s lead single Focus Is Power was the soundtrack to the BBC’s coverage of the Lionesses’ 2025 UEFA European Football Championships victory – a goal Taylor set for the album’s release, to see it used as montage music to major sporting events. And a month after its release, she won the Ivor Novello Awards’ Visionary Award for her genre-defying and fearless songwriting.

Taylor released her debut album as pop star Self Esteem, Compliments Please in 2019, featuring singles The Best and Girl Crush, after a decade as one half of indie duo Slow Club.

Second album Prioritise Pleasure provided Taylor’s breakthrough in 2021, with the huge success of single I Do This All The Time paving the way to Mercury, BRIT and NME award nominations. She is one of a handful of artists to have been playlisted across BBC Radio 1, 2 and 6 Music simultaneously.

An acclaimed actor, Taylor has appeared in Sky’s Smothered and appeared as Sally Bowles in the multiple Olivier Award-winning production of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club in the West End. This year, she will appear in a revival of David Hare’s Teeth ‘n’ Smiles.

Special guest Kae Tempest began their career as a 16-year-old MC busking at bus stops, open mic nights, battles, raves, squat parties, and scrappy festivals.

After a stint in the band Sound of Rum, Kae self-published the poetry collection Everything Speaks In Its Own Way in 2012. That same year, their debut play Wasted opened in London and toured the UK. Meanwhile, their long poem Brand New Ancients, won the Ted Hughes prize and transferred to New York in 2013.

Their first solo recording, the Mercury-Prize-nominated Everybody Down, came in 2014 and they’ve since recorded four more albums, the most recent being last year’s Self-Titled.

The headline show is presented by promoters DEPOT Live and Cuffe and Taylor in collaboration with Clwb Ifor Bach.

Clwb Ifor Bach have worked with Self Esteem on a number of occasions including headline shows at the iconic music venue back in 2019, as well as the Sŵn Festival and later selling out Tramshed in 2023.

Tickets are available now via depotlive.co.uk and ticketmaster.co.uk