HER NAME WAS PALOMA

The other night I pranced my way down Pentonville Road to the Scala to see the lovely Paloma Faith live. She graced the stage in her usual unique bombastic way. Nothing new there. The girl is utterly fabulous. As she did her thing though I wondered why the hell is she being put in the same box as Amy and Duffy. The two aforementioned are nothing like Paloma. It would be like saying Marilyn Monroe is the just another Marlene Dietrich clone. For sure, Paloma sometimes references the same 1960' wall of sound as the aforementioned songbirds but the Hackney girl is more Blossom Dearie meets Bjork than Motown. Yes yes Paloma also has that certain vocal swagger you hear in Amy but hey Amy doesn't have exclusive rights to that particular modus. Personally, Paloma is vocally more akin to Joan Baez, Julie Driscoll and Carole King. Moreover, while Duffy rides her bike promoting some soft drink and Amy spends her time mumbling through songs, when Paloma takes the stage she shimmers in something the mighty showgirls of Kylie, Shirley Bassey and Mae West. The Scala rarely goes camp but that night Paloma took us all on a ride that was more Moulin Rouge than Kings Cross.

So the point of this "review". I actually don't know other than to say Paloma profers nothing but a trinket of pop that is sheer theatrical and wonderfully stylish. While many diva's these days concentrate on the vocals, Paloma spends a tremendous time on the visuals which is a lovely thing to experience. For sure, you won't actually get to see that while hearing her myspace player which makes her live shows all the more glorious. The last two singles have charted reasonably OK but I think it will be 2010 when we see Paloma absorbed the spotlight she truly deserves to bask in. Indeed she's got a role in Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (Heath Ledger's last film). I for one can't wait for the album released next (pre-order it here if you'd like). If songs like Stargazer, Broken Dolls and the current single New York are anything to go by its gonna be in my 2009's shortlist for album of year.