Black Pumas at YES

Black Pumas at YES, Manchester, 21 November 2019, 7:00 pm–11:00 pm, from £11 - Book now

That one-half of the Black Pumas played with Prince and has been heavily influenced by hip hop, comes as no surprise when you hear the band’s soulful sound.

What is a revelation, is their eponymous 10-track album also captures conventions from blues and rock, mixed in with full horn sections – a mish-mash of sounds executed with incredible finesse.

That’s why Black Pumas are a tricky one to compartmentalise, they’ve been described as Neil Young meets Wu Tang Clan – psychedelic soul if you will; and indeed they take you on a genre-blending journey with their first album that’s so moreish, it’s addictive.

Rumblings of an explosive future

The Texas-based duo are made up of guitarist and Grammy award-winning producer (and friend to Prince), Adrian Quesada, and vocalist Eric Burton. Story has it Quesada laid down the instrumentals, with a nod to Wu Tang, then was on the lookout for a fresh-sounding singer to complete the sound, when friends recommended Burton, who was busking around Austin at the time.

With accolades from “must-see” at SXSW and the award-winning song ‘Black Moon Rising’, to the Guardian declaring them the “breakout band of the year” with a debut album “so perfectly realised’, you get the sense that Black Pumas are on to something good, with rumblings of an explosive future.

They’re playing at YES on 21 November, or if you’d prefer to see them flex their muscles on a bigger stage, catch them when they’re back in Manchester – this time at the Academy – on the 6th of February 2020.