British pop artist Paloma Faith. Photo Credit: Yan Wasiuchnik
British pop artist Paloma Faith chatted about her new album “The Glorification of Sadness.” It will be released on RCA Records UK/The Orchard US on February 16.
Song selection approach for the new album
On the song selection process for the album, Faith said, “It wasn’t difficult. It was just very natural. I was just trying to express in order all the stages of guilt and grief that I was going through. It happened naturally and organically. I was really worried that the songs would be all appalling and terrible because I was so emotional.”
“Usually, when you are really emotional, you can’t write anything good; it all sounds too self-indulgent. Actually, it worked out quite well,” she said with a sweet laugh.
The songs that have already been released from this album as singles include “How You Leave a Man,” “Bad Woman,” and “Pressure,” where she collaborates with British rapper Kojey Radical.
Theme of the album
When asked if she was going for a certain theme, she said, “It was all about the breakup of my 10-year relationship with my children’s father. I guess I was just trying to be very honest, raw, and truthful.”
‘Bad Woman’ single
Faith claimed “Bad Woman” as the song that is her personal favorite on the new CD. “It takes a stance of rejecting social pressures,” she admitted. “I feel like I was raised to be told to ‘always be a good girl,’ and I don’t know whether that was the reason why I ended up having lots of failed relationships.”
“I was torn between trying to please the people I was in relationships with to be a good girl and my actual feelings and desires were more rejecting of that,” she said. “I am quite an alpha personality so being a good girl doesn’t really suit me.”
“This album has taught me that there is nothing more human than failure,” she explained. “I want the fans and listeners to know that they don’t have to be a victim.”
The digital age
On being an artist in the digtial age, Faith said, “It’s good for me because I didn’t really have a chance in North America before. That was because marketing teams decided what America would listen to and what they would spend money on.”
“Now, they just decide themselves, and now, I’ve had this massive viral hit with ‘Only Love Can Hurt Like This,’ which became huge eight years after its release,” she revealed.
“Then, they realized that all my streaming numbers are from North America now. That is exciting and it means that I’ve had a chance at doing something that I’ve always wanted to do,” she acknowledged.
“I really always wanted to come over the United States to tour. I love touring and I hope this success leads to a tour,” she added.
AI on the future of the entertainment industry
“I am always a little bit behind with technology. I think the most concerning thing for me about AI is when people don’t know it’s AI especially in terms of using someone’s image or someone’s identity and not saying that it’s not them, for example creating some viral content that might lead us into terrible situations or in a personal sense, potentially, have repercussion for us in our private lives.”
“Also, I think that AI can only do so much in terms of vocal performances. There is nothing greater than real emotional feeling; art should be human. I think that Morrissey once said: ‘Never underestimate the intelligence of your audience’.”
Future plans
“Obviously, I would like to promote this album until I’ve bled it to death. Then, I have a book coming out in the summer, and I would also like to do some more acting.”
Career-defining moments
On her career-defining moments, she shared, “There are a lot. The first time that I had a record company come and watch me in a showcase before I had a record deal, and that story was quite defining.”
“The record executive was on his phone, and I just stopped the band and said that ‘I wasn’t going to play for somebody who wasn’t even listening to me’ and then, he said ‘sorry.’ I responded ‘okay,’ and I carried on,” she said.
Faith continued, “I was quite rude to him, in a way, because he told me that I sound like Amy Winehouse, and then I listed six different white boy indie bands that sounded the same to me and he said that ‘these guys are all doing really well’ and asked me what I was going to do about that.”
“Then, he said he didn’t want anything to do with me ever again, and I left,” she said. “That executive called me back nine months later and told me that he couldn’t stop thinking about me and not because of my music but my attitude so I think, in a way, it gave me this confidence to be very true and authentic to who I actually am, and I’ve maintained that throughout my career.”
“At times, I think that it has meant that I haven’t done as well, but now, the culture moving towards that, I am more appreciated on a global level, it is almost like the zeitgeist has caught up with me and now, my personality suits what people enjoy right now, but I’ve been the same my whole career,” she acknowledged.
“I look at women throughout history who have been doing it that I admire such as Mae West in the 1920s. Mae was telling people what she thinks from that age so now, it has just finally caught on, 100 years on,” Faith said with a sweet laugh.
Dream duet choices in music
Faith listed Lizzo, André 3000, and Rosalia, as her dream collaboration choices in music. “There are so many amazing people,” she admitted.
Stage of her life
On the title of the current chapter of her life, Faith revealed, “The Milf Era.”
Best advice that she has ever been given
Faith shared that the best advice that she has ever been given is that “nothing is the end of the world.”
Advice for young and aspiring artists
For young and aspiring artists, she encouraged them to “be their authentic selves even if it is the wrong time for you; eventually, they will catch up.”
Superpower of choice
Her superpower of choice would be “to be able to diffuse rage and turn it into kindness.” “This will sound like a Miss World contest answer but it’s true,” she said.
Pre-show rituals
Faith revealed that her pre-show rituals include “doing vocal warmups and being by herself.”
Difference singing in the studio vs. performing live
Faith noted that a difference exists when she sings in the studio vs. performing live. “I prefer being live; I find the studio boring due to the lack of validation in public,” she said, prior to adding that performing live is “instant gratification” for her.
Success
“Happiness is not a permanent state, so success is a difficult one to pin down. It has to do with being content even if it is for a fragment of time.”
For more information on British pop songstress Paloma Faith, check out her official website, and follow her on Instagram.