The past year has been huge for strong female artists, with the breakthrough albums of many women have broken the mould of what has been done before with music. Solange beautifully portrayed her heritage and Black pride through her album A Seat at the Table, and Christine & The Queens turned heads with the abstractly beautiful Chaleur Humaine.
The track “Dragonfly” by Pumarosa, the five piece “industrial garage” band from London, resounds this empowerment. An incredibly subtle yet powerful track which builds in tension. It begins in an atmospheric cloud of a mix of synths and string sounds. The listener is suspended in mid air, when lead signer Isabelle’s vocals ring out. They carry a sort of Kate Bush magic, a uniqueness that makes you sit up and take notice.
From here the track comes into it’s own, a pounding pace of chugging guitar and drums, adding a feeling of urgency to “Dragonfly.” This mix of heavy, minor guitar and light female vocals make a wonderful blend, carrying the listener to the chorus, an irruption electronic, grungy sounds (with an injection of cowbell that keeps the track funky, always important.)
This track really plays with the idea of 90’s sounds such as Portishead or the Cranberries, mixed with the current indie sounds of music today, a mixture of electronic, grunge, rock and pop. “Dragonfly” explores many different corners of music and promises a bright future for Pumarosa. Their album The Witch is due for release May 19th, for the meantime you can catch them touring in the UK in April:
17th – Hare & Hounds, Birmingham
18th – The Poetry Club, Glasgow
19th – Soup Kitchen, Manchester
20th – Oval Space, London