Pumarosa

It's true the singer Isabel Munez-Newsome sounds a lot like early Björk when she was still in the Sugarcubes. Not as quicksilvery maybe but like Björk Munez-Newsome hits very high registers and she sings in a slightly theatrical way. Live she totally burns herself out.

These are pretty cool songs but I am not hearing what is so distinctive about the lead singer. She is definitely good but I am not getting "singular voice" vibes from her, nor do I think she sounds even remotely like an opera singer, Bjork, Kate Bush, Dolores O'Riordan, Sinead O'Connor, or Thom Yorke. She does, however, sound a lot like Emma Ruth Rundle and Chelsea Wolfe.

(She also sounds a little bit like Sky Ferreira)

she intonates almost like an opera singer.

yo you know when you invoke opera, Inspectah DJP gonna sit there, let u play yourself.......then take ya to court

i am digging this so far!

Did you listen to the album's opener Dragonfly? That is a dramatic cinematic song where she sounds exactly like young Björk. She even cuts the syllables in a similar way. I didn't say that she had a singular voice but I'd say she puts everything into her delivery, she merges into her voice. I haven't listened to Emma Ruth Rundle yet. Something I will cotrect soon. Anyways there is also the music surrounding the voice which is quite amazing. There are quite jazzy and noisy passages and there are parts where the melody is in the centre. I am surprised that ILM except two or three people has more or less slept on this. It is about the most exciting music I have heard for five years. Though probably in the end it will turn out that it was just another firecracker.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EDJnlFKqoE

ILM has stronger factions now than it's probably ever had. Remember when Susanne Sundfor did so well in the year end polls for 2015 and several people had no idea at all who she even was or where she came from?

That said—and I love Pumarosa and have since I first heard Priestess at the tail end of 2015—the singer's voice doesn't leap out to me as anything that deserves to overshadow the songs themselves.

As I posted earlier in the thread, I listened to "Dragonfly" first. I stand by my assertion that she does not sound like Bjork.

Did you ever listen to the Sugarcubes? I doubt it. Anyways I just listened to an Emma Ruth Rundle song and she sounded like someone who tried to sing like Hope Sandoval but failed completely. Sexiness factor equal to zero. Falling Asleep factor equal to 100. Munez-Newsome on the other hand has found a way of singing which may not be singular but it is her own which is a lot these days. By the way most of the ILM hype has always been pure hype, there were exceptions though, Kaputt being one.

Did you ever listen to the Sugarcubes? I doubt it.

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I'm glad this thread exists. It's just a pity who started it.

That question was directed to djp not to you.

I know, but considering I've had at least two conversations with DJP about the Sugarcubes in the past, I'm HAHAing on his behalf.

But don't you hear Björk in the beginning of Dragonfly? Especially on good headphones the simiarity is very obvious.

X-p
Talking of hype there was a lot of it around Haim a while ago. Which was justified from my pov. But Pumarosa deserves about as much hype as Haim if you ask me.

similarity

I don't even know where hype comes from anymore. Blogs are dead, and they weren't in 2011/12 when Haim started getting a big push. I guess it's from the landing pages of things like Apple Music and Spotify, which I know Pumarosa has already been on. Maybe it will be sustained, maybe it won't. I used to be pretty good at predicting these things, both for artists I like and ones I don't, but I really can't anymore.

I mean, I am certain I've talked to Alex about a Joel/The Sugarcubes before

I don't think I have ever discussed about the Sugarcubes on ILM and if I have it must have been 15 years ago. Do you mean Alex in NYC, DJP?

I mean, it probably happened 15 years ago.

hey DJP check out the Sugarcubes they are kinda like B52s meets Goldmember, cool shit

I will look them up on Napster and download some tracks to my Zune

i see, so you really know the sugarcubes very well...

i'm really digging this
but at the same time it's kind of hipster evanescence

With the caveat that Amy Lee is a much stronger singer.

But does Amy Lee sound like Bjork?

Enjoying this. The album meanders a bit, but there's a lot of good stuff on it. I also don't hear Bjork, but a little PJ and Sinead, sure. It's not all about her, tho -- they're a good band all the way around, there are a lot of ideas in the arrangements and writing.

Man, I've had this on repeat all week. Really strong record. Good drummer, among other things -- there are real, sinuous grooves.

i had an epiphany about this record. i thought it was just ok, kinda patchy. what i realized is that i just really hate the song 'my gruesome loving friend', somehow actually worse than its title. now i skip tracks 6 and 7 and it excises 10 minutes that was just killing the album for me, and now i love it.

MGLF is kinda meh, but I like the groove on Red.

yeah i like red just fine, i just found i could do without it in the context of the album. i prob wouldn't skip it if i wasn't already skipping at that point.

Especially on good headphones

All music reviews should end with this phrase.