“Really fantastic stuff” – Richard Kingsmill, triple j

“Strength & fragility bundled into one perfect song!” – Linda Marigliano, triple j

“Barely-harnessed fury…a big, ambitious sound” – The Guardian

“Everyone is getting caught up in the remarkable force of Pumarosa” – DIY

“Pumarosa are a band in their own league” – Howl and Echoes

“Pumarosa‘s star continues to rise… Isabel Muñoz-Newsome‘s vocals simply haunt” – The AU Review

Pumarosa have today announced details of next single ‘Priestess’, a new recording of which is available now and will feature on the band’s much-anticipated debut album, ‘The Witch’, out May 19^th via Fiction Records (Crystal Castles, The Maccabees, Kate Tempest, The Big Moon, The Amazons) / Caroline Australia.

Recorded and remixed for ‘The Witch’, ‘Priestess’ has slowly transformed from an intriguing introduction to Pumarosa to a truly formidable calling card, which has seen them travel the world and develop the confidence to push their sound further than ever before. It’s a tale of reverence for some dark female form, with that final repeated mantra (“you dance, you dance, you dance”) resonating amidst instrumentation that is both hypnotic and overwhelming.

Coming close to eight minutes in length and produced alongside Dan Carey (Kate Tempest, Bat For Lashes, TOY). , the desire – first sensed on ‘Priestess’ – to operate outside a familiar band template proves to be fundamental to Pumarosa’s ambitious and unpredictable debut album, ‘The Witch’. Throughout, Isabel’s lyrics are emotionally and politically invested; they deftly paint tales of social coercion, feminine emancipation and the striving for release. “I want to sing about women,” she explains. “Women’s characters and feelings, sexual or otherwise, are comparatively unexplored compared to male-female relationships or male-male.” As writing the album developed, then, the image of ‘The Witch’ began to adopt a wider significance: of collectivism, politics, frustration, and love.

Few new acts combine art, thought, sound and visuals quite like this, though for Pumarosa everything goes hand-in-hand. “Performing and partying is one of the ways of ridding ourselves of domination. It helps us engage with our anarchic tendencies and remember the essential need for openness and kindness. And it’s a really important way of saying ‘fuck you, we will stay in touch with each other, and ourselves.”

Having recently toured Australia in February to ecstatic reception, including sold out shows in Sydney and Melbourne, Pumarosa visited triple j for 2017 with Richard Kingsmill, who compared Isabel to The Knife‘s Karin Dreijer Andersson and dubbed ‘The Witch’ “really fantastic stuff… a great listen”.

Touching on subjects as diverse as art, politics and sexual identity, Pumarosa have won over fans and music critics alike. With praise coming from The Guardian,Stereogum, The Fader, DIY, i-D and NME, they earned the position of #1 Most Blogged About Artist on Hype Machine and have received radio play crossing the pacific, from BBC 6Music, Radio X and Annie Mac and Huw Stephens at Radio 1to our very own triple j, where last single ‘Dragonfly’ was spot added.

PRAISE FOR PUMAROSA

“Stunning…music about sex and the radical power of dance” – i-D

“A supremely confident, stare-you-dead-in-the-eyes opening” – Fader

“Totally killer…a thrilling call to arms” – NME

“… draws a gap between 90s indie dance and Blondie.  What a combination, what a band.” – The Wandering Lamb

“The best artists defy genre at every turn, the most important create their own. Pumarosa are doing just that.” – Notion

“[Pumarosa] continue the streak of excellence’” – Stereogum

Pumarosa – Priestess (Mr Dan Edit)
BUY / STREAM / DOWNLOAD

DEBUT ALBUM ‘THE WITCH’ OUT MAY 19
VIA FICTION RECORDS / CAROLINE AUSTRALIA
Pre-Order

AMNPLIFY – BA