Paloma Faith - A Perfect Contradiction [Album Review]

In a rather belated fashion, we turn our attention to Paloma Faith's latest album release, A Perfect Contradiction. We wanted to give the album a chance to fully resonate with us before we attempted to give an accurate and coherent review for you. The plucky Paloma's newest album is her usual mix of R&B, with some (very) funky disco tunes fused with a bit of Motown and jazz, combined with her soulful, powerful voice. Ever the original, we were a bit disappointed to see Faith sacrifice some of her quirkiness and uniqueness to compile a bit more of a commercial album (no doubt influenced by her record company). However, the tracks on the album are indeed beautifully and soulfully sung by the music artist, and the whole album has that feel-good vibe to it, with its up to mid-tempo beats bringing the party to your ears. 

In true fiery style, Paloma kicks off the album with the sassy 'Can't Rely on You'. We have to say, the track does grow on you. Written alongside Pharrell Williams (who acts as the producer), the track worryingly starts off in a 'Blurred Lines' manner, but that quickly descends into a compilation of up-tempo beats and jazz vibes that effortlessly 'introduce' Paloma's soulful voice that truly soars over the chorus in a distinctively dominant manner. Sufficed to say, this song really packs the musical punch. The album then quickly shifts to the incredibly disco-themed 'Mouth to Mouth', the second track-listing, where Paloma gives it all she's got, belting out the chorus with undeniable vigour 'Let you go so just/ Do it like we never met before/ Give me mouth to mouth'. There's also some subtle heavy-breathing to really hammer home the effect of the track. 

The stand out tracks (aside from 'Mouth to Mouth' and 'Can't Rely on You'), come in the form of 'Only Love Can Hurt Like This' and 'Impossible Heart' (though we particularly like the sound of Paloma's voice on 'The Bigger You Love', as well). Perhaps the only ballad-esque track on the album, 'Only Love Can Hurt Like This' is a jazz and soul influenced song, with a more understated feel and solemn lyrics from the singer. True to form, she delivers a powerful performance on the chorus as she riffs between different tempos to create that power-house effect, and its one of the more sentimental tracks, in what is unfortunately, a sea of generic-sounding album fillers. 

What the album lacks, perhaps, is the substance to back it up. Whilst Paloma is undeniably brilliant with her vocal ability and the tracks have an energetic vibe to them, lyrically - there doesn't seem to be much there (aside from the few mentioned above). It seems that amongst the great sounds of the album, and the way in which it is stylistically presented, we would have liked there to be a little bit more soul to fill the rest of the tracks. 'Other Woman' is a case of this, where lyrics are repeated in a hap-hazard fashion, to little or no effect, and the result is easily forgettable. 

Whilst the album artwork screams individualism, the actual content of the A Perfect Contradiction is wavering somewhat, getting lost in the genericness, despite the musical artist having plenty of personality and vocal soul to take the album to new heights. Whilst we are confident that Faith can deliver, and hopefully will do just that on her next album, we are left a little disappointed by the offerings in this album - it's fun enough, but it lacks the substance to deliver a true throw-back to the sixties and seventies, and we're left clinging to any element of quirkiness and personality that we can find.