Paloma Faith - A Perfect Contradiction


It is now tradition for a fascinating, new British popstar to bedazzle us with 2 albums at most and then kindly fade into obscurity. Breaking that mould somewhat with her third release is the admittedly ten thousand times more charismatic Ms. Faith, although it'd be nice if we could just give her that final push and break this #2 chart spot streak she's on.

Faith's voice has always been divisive: it was haunting and outstanding where her songwriting allowed it to be, but in a gentler backdrop she often comes across as shrill and, at times, unbearable. She did manage to pull off a chart-topper this year, but there she was surrounded by all sorts of strings and synths to dilute her. Here, she's given a little more prominence and a plethora of genres to excel in again, but anyone expecting another New York (I'm sure I went through this futility reviewing Fall to Grace) is going to leave mildly disappointed.


2014's most insistent cockroach makes a most unwelcome appearance on opener and lead single 'Can't Rely on You', a bland reduction of Franz Ferdinand's greatest riff and a noisy, unbalanced production that just fails on all fronts: as a single, a piece of enjoyable listening, and as a part of the album. But then, he said yes to and presumably had some involvement with ATM Jam so maybe this is not his worst effort of the year. Let's move on. The rest of the album is a fun assortment of pastiches: 'Mouth to Mouth' sees the vocal melody of Whitney's Million Dollar Bill taken down a funkier, at least slightly groovy route, whilst the John Legend-helmed 'Take Me' has a far more convincing argument in favour of Paloma's credentials as a soul queen. A tuneful, fun piano hook (that makes you wonder what on earth Jools Holland is doing with his life) that's a wonderful backdrop for the least subtle bit of sexual revelation you'll ever hear.

Britain's foremost musical retrophile (Plan B) lends his quiet, pleasant predictability to the arrangement of 'Other Woman' and gives it his usual ITV Drama montage hue, but Faith just about keeps up with the pace and emerges all the better for it. On the similarly brassy 'Trouble With My Baby' the end result is ultimately some great fun, if nothing we haven't all heard thousands of times before. Her cover of Sister Love's 'The Bigger You Love' certainly proves Faith's love of the genre and emerges as a gorgeous, stately tribute to the Merry Clayton-led girl group. But it's A Perfect Contradiction's sole diversion from the 60s ballad train that stands as the most memorable and charming: 'Impossible Heart' has all of the right chirps and chimes in it that one might ask of a more current "disco-inspired" pop song (see: here) and allows for Faith to sit back and attempt a delivery that isn't quite so taxing on our attention span.

Of course, a Paloma Faith album cannot go by without the obligatory stand-out ballad moment, and on 'Only Love Can Hurt Like This' she is given the full Dusty; a sombre, unintruding Motown beat serving as the melodramatic setting for Faith's insurmountable vocal. It's just a shame that such moments are so often and so recurringly surrounded by instantly forgettable ones: 'Taste My Own Tears' evokes all sorts of horrible Duffy memories via the medium of teasing us with lyrical quotes of the greats (A Change is Gonna Come), whilst 'Love Only Leaves You Lonely' makes the prospect of a Rumer album sound interesting.


I get that Sony are probably keen to keep Faith boxed within this nice little retro-nostalgia package and have her release an album every year or two with more obscure soul covers and generic wailing ballads, but the few glimpses of excellence here are in the areas where she's more contemporary: a fourth album devoted entirely to 80s electropop? It's a wonderful prospect. Maybe we'll have to wait until the fifth like we did with Taylor Swift, but then Red wasn't bad either. Fingers crossed.

Rating: 5.5/10
Highlights: Take Me; Impossible Heart; Other Woman; Only Love Can Hurt Like This; The Bigger You Love
Avoid: Can't Rely On You; Love Only Leaves You Lonely

Artwork Watch: I'd raise concerns of egomania were it not so striking.
Up next: Kylie Minogue    

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