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12 MusicWeek 30.03.12 THEBIGINTERVIEWPALOMAFAITH


www.musicweek.com


Why the platinum- selling


singer isn’t scared of the music industry –


or standing up to her label –


anymore


FAITH IN THE SYSTEM P


TALENT  BY TIM INGHAM


aloma Faith is frazzled enough to warn us she’s feeling a little “weirded out” before we ask her a single question.


Having retreated for 18 months following the


platinum success of her debut album, the Hackney- born songbird has returned to the limelight with thumping thick-skinned anthem Picking Up The Pieces. Unfortunately for Faith, the single’s official release in May (and subsequent arrival of second album Fall To Grace) has reawakened the tabloids’ thirst for her kooky, vintage shtick – and her personal life. It’s a slight surprise that she’s quite so thrown by


the arrival of paparazzi outside her house, because she demonstrates no such unease over recent major modifications to her record label life. Having seen Sony mentors Nick Raphael and Jo


Charrington leave Epic last year, Faith has hopped over to RCA for the follow-up to 2010’s Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful?, working with fellow newbie, label MD Colin Barlow. Rather than allow these unfamiliar surroundings


to put her off, she says they have inspired a forthright demand for personal creative control. Manager Jamie Binns at Lateral agrees, commenting that she noticeably became the “captain of her ship” following the changeover. Surprisingly, Faith looks back on her last mega- successful record with mixed feelings: although she


ABOVE Men of Faith: Manager Jamie Binns of Lateral and (bottom) new RCA label boss Colin Barlow


“I’d like to make a few waves in America and internationally. I speak three languages.


I don’t think that was really utilised in the promotion of the last record” PALOMA FAITH


appreciates its breakthrough status and still adores some of its standout moments, she also sees it as a token of her uncertainty as a fledgling artist. Too many of its ideas clash; too much of its sound is steeped in other people’s ideas. This time round, alongside producer Nellee


Hooper (Bjork, Massive Attack, Madonna) and co- producer Jake Gosling (Ed Sheeran), she’s wrestled her way to the auteur’s chair. And as she tellsMusic Week, now she’s worked


out how to “push my battles”, she’s starting to demand truly global support from Sony HQ…


How has your sound progressed from Do You Want The Truth… to Fall To Grace? When I made my debut record, I was dealing with the whole music industry. Everything was a first. Now I’ve been through it once, I’ve learnt what [the label’s] role is – when to listen to them and when not to. This record is much more true to what I set out to do in the first place. I’m a massive film fanatic so I’ve always been


spouting off about being cinematic, but I wasn’t necessarily as involved creatively on the last album. I was with the writing, but not production or the later stages like mixing and mastering. On this record I’ve had a say right to the last detail.


What’s changed within Sony to give you control? I’ve got a bit more worth now. And because I know my worth, I’m not as sheepish about standing up for what I want. Also, I’ve accepted that the music industry is a business. That’s their concern so I shouldn’t worry about their creative opinions, and I don’t anymore. I’ve stopped listening. Like with photographers, I go: “Just call me. Don’t bother speaking to them.” [laughs]


Did you personally pick Nellee Hooper to produce the record? I was really lucky with the label changeover that I got to work with Colin Barlow. Because I’m a little bit of a dreamer in my own little world – which tends to be quite old-fashioned – I don’t really have my finger on the pulse. Colin translated my desire to sound a certain way into introducing Nellee Hooper. It was a brilliant suggestion.


You had a famously close relationship with Nick and Jo – who still manage your publishing – before they left Epic. Has it been tough making a record without them? There’s pros and cons. I like being given the freedom I’ve got to be creative this time round, but I’ve also sometimes felt a little too out on my own.


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