Having recruited a veritable who's who collaborators on her third album A Perfect Contradiction, including perennial chart-topper Pharrell Williams, Paloma Faith is hoping to make her biggest statement of musical intent yet. The record is a slight change of tack from her previous efforts, marrying elements of a more pop-oriented sound with Faith's distinctive vocal quirks and off the wall sensibilities. Will A Perfect Contradiction redefine Paloma Faith's sound? John Balfe spoke to her to find out more.

Paloma Faith will play Groove Festival on Saturday 5th July.


Third albums are always quite interesting to me to hear in comparison to the first two. How do you feel A Perfect Contradiction differs from your earlier work?

It's much more hopeful and celebratory but not just good things, but sad things too, I feel like I'm celebrating it all. I said that in the inlay for the CD that I'm grateful for both. It's hard to experience good things if you haven't experienced sad things. But I feel like it's a bit more uplifting!


There probably isn't a more high profile person to collaborate with nowadays than Pharrell Williams, as you did on the track 'Can't Rely On You'. How did that partnership come about and what did he bring to the table?

I met him at a party. He approached me there singing one of my songs for me and then he said that he really wanted to work with me on my new album, which I was shocked about, but he took my phone out of my hand and put his number in it and told me to call him. I've never met anybody with such energy, he has so much energy, and he also has a very clear vision of what he wants to do with his music - it's so specific to him. He's not trying to make any feel any sort of profound, earth-shattering emotional message. He's literally just trying to make people have fun and be happy. He's very open about that and I think he does that extremely well. You know that moment in a club when a brilliant song comes on and makes everyone jump up and dance? He wants those songs.


It seems like there are a slew of musicians out there just waiting for their chance to work with him. You must feel pretty fortunate that he actually approached you?

Yeah I got there in just the nick of time!

The record is filled to the brim with a range of other co-conspirators, Raphael Saadiq is one. Do you feel that your own level of creativity is heightened by continuing to work with people who have their own individual tastes and perspectives on music, does that keep challenging you?

I do. I only work with people that I admire and in the past, record label people get involved and they say you should work with this person. I'm not someone who closes doors so I'll always have a go with whoever my label thinks I should work with. I give it a chance and if I don't like it I say 'no', but in this context because of the success that I had previously I felt that I was in a much stronger position to be able to approach people that I genuinely admire. I've got Plan B on there and Raphael Saadiq, those people are all the music I listen to. I was ticking boxes left, right and centre on this one. I've got all the albums by pretty much everyone I worked with on the record. For me, that felt amazing.

I can only imagine that when you work so closely with so many people that have shaped your musical career, it can only end with a perfectly distilled version of your own tastes and musical sensibilities?

Yeah - and I'm really proud of the outcome. Everyone who hears it, sceptics included, are seeing how there is a bridge between me and the Pharrell song and I've very clearly marked it on this record. That's where I want to be and that's where I'm happiest.

I have heard you say about the album that, while it's musically very upbeat and easy to dance to but despite all that there's still a level of "it's all gone to shit". What did you mean by that?

I'm realistic. Even when I'm at my happiest I'm always fatalising everything. I'm quite scared of happiness, if anything. When I'm happy I find it quite a scary place to be because I'm worried it will go wrong. There are moments on the album where I'm saying, 'this is brilliant, I really like you' and then the next minute I'm saying, 'God damn my impossible heart' because I know that it's all going to go wrong. I just feel like they both coexist and I have to accept that.

They're both equally valid parts of life and if you only address one and not the other, it's not really a true reflection of anything.

Yeah and that's the same way that I deal with my position. A lot of upcoming people ask me what advice I've got and I say to them to take their compliments with a pinch of salt and take your insults with a pinch of salt because both of them can be equally damaging.

I saw you on the Graham Norton show a month or two ago and being a big fan of both I have to ask what it was like being draped across the laps of Matt Damon and Bill Murray?

I don't think I'll ever wash again! I'm joking. I think they're both amazing. Bill, I wish was my father and I also feel like he probably could be (laughs). Matt is just a really likeable, super-intelligent man. I really admire his work ethic. I got to give Bill Murray a big kiss!

I've been a massive Bill Murray fan for about as long as I can remember.

Me too, I don't even read the back of the DVD if he's in it.

What's your favourite of his movies?

I think Broken Flowers.

Sorry, I've gone off on a tangent here. I know you're coming to Ireland to play the Groove Festival in July. Do you like playing in this part of the world?

I love it! I feel very comfortable and at home. I think they Irish culture is very similar to my attitude towards life. I live life in a way where if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. I feel that the Irish do that very well. I feel very safe walking to the stage in front of an Irish audience because you feel that if they like something they're going to really let you know. If they don't, they're not going to boo you to the point where you fell like running off again.

Ireland and Scotland are quite similar audiences. The north of England is brilliant, the Welsh are amazing but the further south you go you might as well give up. I don't know what it is, but when you're on stage it feels like some of them hate you!

And finally, what's the plan for the rest of the year?

Well I'm hoping to tour the entire globe but I suppose it all depends on how the album is received. But the answer is that I want to go everywhere!