Pumarosa @ The Poetry Club, Glasgow, 18 Apr

Live Review by Claire Francis | 24 Apr 2017

If you've had a particularly indulgent long weekend, fronting up to a live gig on the Tuesday night requires a certain amount of willpower. That's about the only gripe to be had with tonight's intimate show at The Poetry Club, because from start to finish Pumarosa show exactly why they're one of the most talked-about bands of the moment.

Opening with the back-to-back killer punch of Dragonfly and then Cecile, frontwoman Isabel Munoz-Newsome haemorrhages charisma, crooning through the crashing percussion of the former before her haunting vocals rise up to meet the saxophone crescendo of the latter. We're two songs deep, and it's safe to say the small but starry-eyed crowd is hooked.

Lion's Den is made even more ominous with Munoz-Newsome's prefacing remark, 'we'd like to dedicate this song to Theresa May'. The London-based five piece thrash the track to a climax, then move into the equally apt The Witch. From the band's forthcoming debut album of the same name, the song is the perfect showcase for our frontwoman's whimsical, Kate Bush-esque dance moves and theatrical wide-eyed expression. Crowd favourite Priestess is given a souped-up layer of synthesised beats that has the dim, smoky Poetry Club bouncing with glee.

We're even treated to a quick encore, though in a non-traditional fashion, as Munoz-Newsome admits while looking around the intimate room: "This is where we were going to do an encore, but there's nowhere to hide". Pumarosa seem destined to run out of hiding places – with a show this well-paced, unique and invigorating, it's safe to say the secret's out.

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