Pumajaw
PUMAJAW are producer/multi-instrumentalist John Wills (ex-Loop) and songwriter/chanteuse Pinkie Maclure. Their music is a mix of electronic and acoustic sounds, characterised by rich vocals and exploratory, cinematic arrangements. A charismatic live act since 2000, they have recorded six albums and toured the UK, Europe, Russia and the US, earning loyal fans who are seduced by their combination of great songwriting with inventive, atmospheric arrangements. In 2013 they will touring the Balkans and Italy and will be performing at a number of UK festivals.
Discography:
From Memorial Crossing (2000)
This Day and Age (2002)
Cat’s Cradle (2005)
Becoming Pumajaw (2007)
Curiosity Box (2009)
DemonMeowMeow (Nov 2011)
CRITICAL PRAISE:
“From their Perthshire fastness, John Wills and Pinkie Maclure emerge blinking into the starlight of contemporary electronica with an album that is sometimes lush and sometimes scarily gothic. The soundscapes Wills has crafted here are the work of a musician as inventive with keyboard sounds old and new as he is on the guitar and drums he has played in previous chapters of his career. Like a brooding distant cousin of Goldfrapp’s Will Gregory, he has fashioned the perfect backdrop for his foil, the distinctive voice of Maclure, who can recall PJ Harvey one minute and the Cocteau Twins’ Liz Fraser the next. ‘It only takes a song of lost love to get you teary-eyed,’ she sings in Your Arms, Your Doors, but her lyrics are for the most part delightfully playful, full of surprising allusions and turns of phrase. Some have drawn comparisons with Isobel Campbell’s excursions with Mark Lanegan, but Pumajaw’s music is altogether darker and sexier. Less poppy than Goldfrapp, it is equally careless of the fashions of the time” (Keith Bruce, The Herald, 2012)
“There’s a band onstage and it’s Pumajaw. Clutching her accordion like some terrifying infant, Pinkie Maclure is bewitching as she laments and seduces over the ominous soundscapes provided by the spectral John Wills. They come on like a brewing storm, all dark intent and sensual promise. Exiting the tent still entranced, they have brought on the rain” (Euan McBride, This is Fake DIY – live at Doune the Rabbithole, 2012)
‘Wills is a highly accomplished player and his use of loops and samples creates a wall of sound that a full-blown band might struggle to craft. Sometimes growling, other times hauntingly angelic, Maclure’s voice is always utterly engaging and the way she handles the concertina would make the knees of grown men tremble’ (David Prater The Herald ****, 2007)
‘Pumajaw links Loop’s hypnotics with trance-like beats, held together by Maclure’s disarmingly seductive voice’ (Uncut ****)
‘The bewitching Pumajaw are one of the Scottish music scene’s most exotic animals,’ (Fiona Shepherd ,The Scotsman ****, 2005)
’ Timeless, extraordinary……… the product of a potent musical chemistry’ (Mike Barnes, THE WIRE)
The Scottish songstress with the disarmingly beautiful voice – a kind of anglophone Juliette Gréco — is back with this superb set. But the songwriting style is redolent with folk and jazz, as well as industrial harshness. John Wills’ eerie production and covers of songs by David Lynch and Tom Waits let you know she is in touch with her dark side, and on tracks such as Frozen in Sleep she positively bewitches with her haunting sincerity. (Kevin Le Gendre, Marie Claire)
