YO U ’ V E G O T TA H AV E FA I T H With a fifth studio album, Infinite Things, out and a UK headline tour planned for 2021, taking in some spectacular Yorkshire venues, Neill Barston caught up with the super stylish and pitch-perfect Paloma pre-tour.
F
rom gaining number one album success, through to battling her way to becoming a mother, Paloma Faith’s remarkable career continues in setting her sights on a return to the charts with her ambitious new album. Amid a global pandemic, this year has been one to forget for many, but as Paloma Faith reveals, she feels notably blessed by news of her second child’s imminent arrival. After a hugely testing trial of repeated rounds of IVF treatment, the Brit Award winning singer announced the latest addition to her family happily coincides with her latest musical baby in the form of her fifth studio album. Since her last release, The Architect, achieved coveted number one status, Paloma has featured as a coach on ITV’s The Voice Kids, seen herself nominated for a clutch of industry accolades, as well as exploring new territory as an actor in the Batman prequel spin-off, Pennyworth. So, as the coronavirus crisis grimly took hold around the world, the enforced downtime offered her a rare chance to take stock after an intense period of work. As she admits, inhabiting her line of work can often make you ‘whimsical in going with the flow,’ yet reveals
40
that having a toddler to take care of has, by necessity, required greater time management. “It’s made me go for the jugular more,” she notes in having to be far more focused. Consequently, being ever creatively restless, material soon flowed while at home completing her latest album, led by its lyrically powerful lead single, Better Than This, a reflection on the fractured state of the world and hopes for the next generation. It stands proudly paving the way for what is a bold, uncompromising record brimming full of confidence and selfassurance, taking on everything from her trademark soulful pop, through to sweeping orchestral ballads that stem from an artist who is at the top of her creative game. “We live in a very volatile world that now seems as if we only get one chance, so I have been lucky that I’ve been able to put releases out there and put myself on the map,” she says of her latest recording. However, it’s been a far from straightforward journey for the halfSpanish East-London born singer, who holds a degree in contemporary dance, and an MA in theatre directing that saw her initially consider other artistic directions. But after early stints
in cabaret, bar tending and modelling, she gravitated to singing, and has been doing things her own way ever since. There have been pressures along the route, including offering a ‘showbiz age’ several years younger than her actual years for fear of not being given a recording contract, yet she remains very much true to herself. Despite such moments, her debut album provided plenty of vindication in reaching the top 10 in 2009, setting the tone for a career to date packed with notable milestones. There have been plenty of highlights beyond the icing on the cake of multi-platinum sales, including her friendship with the late Amy Winehouse, to whom she has been widely compared, who she penned a tribute to on her last album. To her credit, she has stood firm on other key issues, notably on one of her biggest hits to date, Only Love Can Hurt Like this, which featured a video with an interracial love scene. When US executives asked her to reshoot it on the grounds it ‘wouldn’t sell’, she refused, and never spoke to them again, even if it might cost her a stateside breakthrough. She says she’d rather have success very much on her own terms. As she concedes, her latest recordings, which were self-produced
yorkshire.com
