Puressence
Gig Seeker Pro

Puressence

Manchester, England, United Kingdom

Manchester, England, United Kingdom
Band Rock

Calendar

Music

Press


"Puressence"

His voice is an instrument of such clarity and purity and flexibility, it just does you in. He’s got a range that just goes forever. And I love that Manchester sound! They’re such a moving experience. - Judy Collins


"Music Week"

One killer song after another, vivid guitars and a brilliant voice
- Music Week


"MOJO"

An epic quartet fronted by a voice of rare power & distinction
- MOJO


"The Guardian"

They have all the ingredients - dollops of attitude & ecstasy, choruses the size of their hometown, a best kept secret that surely can't remain so for much longer - The Guardian


Discography

LPs:
PURESSENCE (1996)
ONLY FOREVER (1998)
PLANET HELPLESS (2002)
DON'T FORGET TO REMEMBER (2007)
SHARPEN UP THE KNIVES (2009)
SOLID STATE RECITAL (2011)

Singles:
PETROL SKIN (1992)
SIAMESE (1992)
OFFSHORE (1993)
I SUPPOSE (1995)
I SUPPOSE (European) (1995)
FIRE (1995)
INDIA (1996)
TRAFFIC JAM IN MEMORY LANE (1996)
CASTING LAZY SHADOWS (1996)
THIS FEELING (1996)
THIS FEELING CD 2 (1996)
IT DOESN'T MATTER ANYMORE (1998)
IT DOESN'T MATTER ANYMORE 2(1998)
ALL I WANT (1998)
ALL I WANT CD2 (1998)
WALKING DEAD (2002)
WALKING DEAD CD2 (2002)
PALISADES (2007)
DROP DOWN TO EARTH (2007)
DROP DOWN TO EARTH CD2 (2007)
DON'T KNOW ANY BETTER (2008)

Photos

Bio

“An epic quartet fronted by a voice of rare power & distinction” (MOJO);
“One killer song after another, vivid guitars and a brilliant voice” (Music Week).

Of all the classic guitar bands, Manchester’s Puressence have always been about the emotion. Rollercoaster emotion, from the fragile to the euphoric. For years, they’ve been slaying fans with their songs, the best of which were included on their 2009 compilation ‘Sharpen Up The Knives’, which drew on the band’s Island Records years between 1996 and 2002.

However, the band’s true renaissance begins with their new, fifth album, ‘Solid State Recital’ (on their own Caserta Red label). ‘Solid State Recital’ is Puressence, knives sharpened, back to their brilliant best. The album’s emotional intensity never lets up, from the anthemic artillery of ‘Raise Me To The Ground’ and ‘Our Number’s Oracle’ to the Motown-style pounding of ‘Solid State’ and the soaring slowburn of ‘Burma’ and ‘In Harm’s Way’.

The title ‘Solid State Recital’ equally taps the band’s core identity. “It comes back to why we’re called Puressence. We’re not a confrontational band, or a political band; it’s all about the purer feelings, the raw emotion, the most soulful kind of music. This is a band from north Manchester, and this is what we sound like.”

In their strongholds, especially Manchester and southern Europe - in Greece, they play to tens of thousands - Puressence are treated as idols. Elsewhere, they’ve had chart success in the days when the charts mattered, though they’ve never benefitted from being part of any trend. When schoolmates James and Tony Szuminski (drums) met Kevin Matthews (bass) and founding guitarist Neil MacDonald on the bus to The Stone Roses’ legendary Spike Island show in 1989, they formed a band that married the presence and attitude of the Roses to a darkly haunting and molten guitar rock that last hit the heights during the era of Joy Division and Echo & The Bunnymen.

20 years since Puressence formed, they’re still improving, still refining, still expanding. The clichéd press approach to the band – that they deserve to be much more widely recognised – becomes less relevant as time goes on.

“It makes me laugh when people underestimate me,” a combative James grins. “My appetite for music is just getting whetted. To me, the band is massive because we write massive music, and through word of mouth, we get bigger every year. As long as I can find the germ of an idea and create something from it, and get it across live, with passion, and people tell me they love it, I’ll keep going. And we’ll only stop when we stop feeling that.”