PUMAROSA
Unveil Captivating Debut Album
THE WITCH
VIA FICTION RECORDS / CAROLINE AUSTRALIA
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“A sonic freak out that will leave you breathless” ★★★★ – Rolling Stone
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“An accomplished, lavishly produced and beguiling debut” – RUSSH
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“Stunning…music about sex and the radical power of dance” – i-D
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“Really fantastic stuff” – Richard Kingsmill, triple j
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“Strength & fragility bundled into one perfect song!” – Linda Marigliano, triple j
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“A supremely confident, stare-you-dead-in-the-eyes opening” – The FADER
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“Everyone is getting caught up in the remarkable force of Pumarosa” – DIY
STREAM THE WITCH HERE
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After much anticipation, East-London five-piece Pumarosa have today released their entrancing debut album, ‘The Witch’, via Fiction Records (Crystal Castles, The Maccabees, Kate Tempest, The Big Moon, The Amazons) / Caroline Australia. Australian fans were treated to an exclusive listen to album track ‘My Gruesome Loving Friend’ on the eve of the record’s release thanks to Good Nights with Linda Marigliano on triple j.
With multi-dimensional sounds which rise from nothing to expansive, free-spirited frenzies, ‘The Witch’ digs deeper into Pumarosa’s stunningly surreal yet danceable and emphatic sound. ‘The Witch’ soundtracks a vivid journey of the band thus far: from the shared Tottenham warehouse they formed into the derelict Italian cinema in which they honed their sound, and finessed in the South London studio of Dan Carey (Kate Tempest, Bat For Lashes, TOY).
From the priestess to the witch, then, the idea of subverting female archetypes is integral to Pumarosa. “I want to sing about women,” explains frontwoman and songwriter Isabel Muñoz-Newsome. “Women’s characters and feelings, sexual or otherwise, are comparatively unexplored compared to male-female relationships or male-male.” The band cite a lack of focal female protagonists in culture – from the government to art galleries, festival bills to bookshelves – as motivation to write a record which consciously explores the inner lives of women, and those who upset the male gaze. The song ‘The Witch’ itself, for instance, is about taking back freedom, and rejecting society’s attempts to subjugate your animal self; ‘My Gruesome Loving Friend’ is the idea of living fearlessly, and the power but also vulnerability which comes with that; ‘Barefoot’ maintains a strength and steely self – belief even in the bleakest of conditions.
For Pumarosa it’s a narrative that is as urgent today as it is an age-old struggle: “The Witch is the song around which everything revolves. She is the female effigy meant as a warning to women but taken as a symbol of resilience and power. She’s branded as negative, sent underground and burnt at the stake a thousand times. But she’s still here, and we love her.”
On ‘The Witch’, Pumarosa deliver a collection of songs which channel the undercurrents of the present day: collectivism, frustration, euphoria, feminism, politics, aggression, 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.”
Pumarosa have won over fans and music critics alike. With praise coming from the likes of The Guardian, The FADER, DIY, Stereogum, 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 atRadio 1 to our very own triple j, where their most recent single ‘Dragonfly’ was spot added.
PRAISE FOR PUMAROSA
“Barely-harnessed fury…a big, ambitious sound” – The Guardian
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“Pumarosa are a band in their own league” – Howl and Echoes
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“Goddamn these painfully perfect vocals + Echo & The Bunnymen guitars” – Linda Marigliano, triple j
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“Pumarosa‘s star continues to rise… Isabel Muñoz-Newsome‘s vocals simply haunt” – The AU Review
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“Totally killer…a thrilling call to arms” – NME
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“… draws a gap between 90s indie dance and Blondie. What a combination, what a band.” – The Wandering Lamb
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“The best artists defy genre at every turn, the most important create their own. Pumarosa are doing just that.” – Notion
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“[Pumarosa] continue the streak of excellence’” – Stereogum
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‘THE WITCH’
OUT NOW VIA FICTION RECORDS / CAROLINE AUSTRALIA
Buy, Stream & Download
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‘THE WITCH’ TRACKLISTING:
1. Dragonfly
2. Honey
3. The Witch
4. Priestess
5. Lions’ Den
6. My Gruesome Loving Friend
7. Red
8. Barefoot
9. Hollywood
10. Snake
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