Oslo band Pom Poko will release their third album, Champion, on August 16 via Bella Union. They produced the album themselves and it was mixed by Ali Chant (PJ Harvey, Aldous Harding, Dry Cleaning).
“It feels like we’re maturing and growing up together,” says singer/lyricist Ragnhild Fangel Jamtveit. “By the time this album comes out, we’ll have been a band for eight years. It’s like we’re evolving. When you’re not grinding with the band all the time, you gain an appreciation for what you’ve built. It’s like a very weird and really lovely little gang to hang out in. I almost feel like we’re superheroes—it’s like being a part of Powerpuff Girls.”
There are two songs from Champion you can listen to now: the title track and new single “Growing Story.” Says Ragnhild: “On this album we wanted to explore simplifying our sound and make some songs a bit more grungy and heavy-hitting. ‘Growing Story’ came out of that process. This song and its title is kind of describing the themes on this record: growing up, whatever that means, and finding yourself in a place where you realise you can contain a lot of different stuff at the same time.”
Listen to both songs below.
Pom Poko have fall UK tour dates, and those are listed below.
Champion:
1. Growing Story
2. My Family
3. Champion
4. You’re Not Helping
5. Pile Of Wood
6. Bell
7. Go
8. Never Saw It Coming
9. Druid, Fox And Dragon
10. Big Life
11. Fumble
POM POKO – 2024 TOUR DATES
Monday 7th October – Portsmouth – Wedgewood Rooms
Wednesday 9th October – Nottingham – Rescue Rooms
Thursday 10th October – Hebden Bridge – Trades Club
Friday 11th October – Blackpool – Bootleg Social
Saturday 12th October – Middlesbrough – Twisterella festival
Monday 14th October – Glasgow – Mono
Tuesday 15th October – Newcastle – Cluny
Wednesday 16th October – York – The Crescent
Friday 18th October – Sheffield – Sidney & Matilda
Saturday 19th October – Birmingham – Future Days (festival)
Sunday 20th October – Ipswich – St Stephen’s Church