NEW ALBUM AVAILABLE-BUT ONLY HERE!
pomegranate THE THRILL OF FRESH PAINT released by Integral on 26th March.
Order this beautifully packaged digipak Special Edition at an introductory low price and get an 11-track bonus CD (sundries) absolutely free! Previews and downloads also available.
These offers are currently EXCLUSIVE to our online STORE
POMEGRANATE LIVE--ALBUM LAUNCH PARTY!
What a great night! Thanks to everyone who came down to offer their support.
EARLY PRESS:
I like press releases - apart from anything else they make my job easier - so “known for experimental, cinematic electronica” sums up Pomegranate rather neatly.So what, then is the lo-fi jangle, fresh from 1986 and wobbly vocals that opens this, the band’s third album? They have moved on it seems, or backward in a sense, Vanessa Rigg’s voice fragile and reminiscent of Scottish female singers like Emma Pollock or Aggi Pastel, while Stef McGlinchey - songwriter and creator of these sounds - winds his musical time machine through the years. ‘Live Inside of You’ makes for doomy 4AD sounds with Vanessa’s vocal on top, pure and vulnerable, while ‘Undercover Saint’ has the touch of a classic film theme, the stripped-down Bontempi-style backing disguised by an orchestral sweep which would be an adequate backing for a Shirley Bassey belter. ‘Nobodinos’ gets closer to Pomegranate’s heart, leaving aside the fey electropop for a moment for a Durutti Column-style guitar workout. The rest is not quite what we expected but hey, you can’t believe everything you read.
(Bernard Bessing Isthismusic? 20/5/07)
4/5 stars
Pomegranate sound like a more laconic Ladytron, a female-fronted exploration of laid-back electronica replete with lush melodies. More than worthy of your support
(Herald, Going Out 22/03/07)
With a background in futuristic theatre productions and distant cinematic electronica, Pomegranate (duo Stef McGlinchey and Vanessa Rigg) certainly know how to put a layered, nocturnal soundscape or two together. The dozen tracks here offer a few unearthed diamonds (the Massive Attacky `Underground Saint' and the nursery rhyme simplicity of `Nests'). Like early Cocteaus but with a spring in its step, most of Pomegranate's third album stumbles haphazardly towards a vague notion of gorgeous imperfection.
(Brian Donaldson, The List 15/3/07)
Glasgow duo Pomegranate have spent much of the last few years embroiled in some serious globetrotting. The band's experimental sound has impressed record buyers and critics alike in places as far flung as Russia, Germany and Canada. It's a success story as idiosyncratic as Pomegranate's unusual moniker, and one which gives lie to singer Vanessa Rigg and writer Stef McGlinchey's rather offbeat approach to things. Fortunately, for the pair's loyal home-based fans, this month sees them return to Scotland with their full attention focused on some much-anticipated new material. Their album The Thrill of Fresh Paint goes out on March 26, with Glasgow venue The Liquid Ship hosting a launch party the previous night at 8pm. After their early career was built around the solid base of a distinctive, chilled-out sound, Pomegranate's latest work see them move toward more upbeat, spontaneous territory. As McGlinchey himself explains: “Our live work has really influenced the new sound. There's a new layer of electric guitar pop with this album. “In many ways it would have been easier to make something that was chilled out again but I felt the need to show more sides to Pomegranate".
(Michael McCartney S1play.com 22/3/07)
`Jackson and Idreamasound work well, and offer a glimpse of what Cowboy Junkies might sound like if they stumbled across a drum machine.'
(Scotsman 23/3/07)
MYSPACE, YOUTUBE, LAST.FM LINKS:
Visit pomegranate:
ON LAST.FM: Previews, playlists and freebies. Give us some tags & shoutbox action ;)
on MYSPACE: Listen to songs from the new album, read our blog, be our friend, leave a comment.
...and on YOUTUBE you can check out the video of CANDY BLISS captured live at Glasgow Tramway.
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first meetings
Formed in 1999, composer/producer Stef McGlinchey and vocalist Vanessa Rigg actually met 3 years earlier when working on a futuristic theatre show. Stef had been asked to write the music for the show in which Vanessa performed, sang and played viola. Both were upstaged by the real star of the event...a robot in a wheelchair called Nana. When Vanessa arrived back in Glasgow after 2 years in Portugal, Stef persuaded her to sing on a couple of tracks he had recorded. And so, pomegranate was born.
They released the critically acclaimed debut album THIS ILLUSION SOUND in 2000. The album's mix of melodic ambience and subtle, gritty electronica won them many admirers worldwide. (One Canadian DJ voted it his album of the year 2002). THIS ILLUSION SOUND was recently picked up by Moscow label Citadel Records.
Consolidating on this success, the duo composed and recorded the set of songs which became ON BLACK PEAK in 2003. The album received its first release in Germany, picking up several 5-star reviews and album of the month awards.
pomegranate made a highly successful live debut at Glasgow's Tramway and also played the GoNorth Festival.
