Introducing… Two appearances by flamboyant Hackney songbird Paloma Faith in North Yorkshire

PALOMA Faith’s February 1 concert at York Barbican has sold out already, but don’t lose Faith if you have missed out.

This morning, booking opens at 9am for Paloma’s open-air concert at Dalby Forest on June 29, as part of the Forestry Commission’s Forest Live summer series.

Last year, Paloma released her second album, Fall To Grace, which peaked at number two in the charts and spawned the singles Picking Up The Pieces, 30-Minute Love Affair and Just Be. It was later reissued with a cover of INXS’s Never Tear Us Apart that gave her a fourth hit and she has now been nominated for two 2013 Brit Awards.

Paloma last appeared on a North Yorkshire stage in July 2011 at the Harrogate International Summer Festival, when she performed songs from her debut album Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful?, among them Stone Cold Sober, Upside Down and New York and a spellbinding, sit-down cover of Nick Cave’s Into My Arms. She even made light of toppling over when her red high heel caught in her dress that night, and her ever-burgeoning career has not taken a backward step ever since, as CHARLES HUTCHINSON and ANDY WELCH report

 

How are rehearsals progressing for your 2013 tour, Paloma?

“We didn’t start until last Sunday, because we play together a lot and everyone knows what they’re doing. I’m excited.”

Do you enjoy performing in the theatre-style venues or the big arenas booked for June?

“I’m more frightened of those big venues, like the O2, because I’m used to the smaller places. I know what I’m doing, and now I’m worried that I’ll have to act differently on stage. But then I went to see Dolly Parton there and she didn’t do that, it was like you’d gone to her house, so I should stick to what I do normally.”

Will you be focusing on songs from Fall To Grace?

“Yes, I’m going to do all of it, with just a few from the first album at the end. We’re going to do different versions of the songs, and vary them at each show so nothing will be the same at any show. It’s really nice to play with the different versions we’ve done, whether it’s three-piece, five-piece or full band. It keeps it interesting for me, and for the handful of people who come to every show. And there are a few.”

Are you working on your next album?

“I’ve not started thinking about it that much, just basic ideas, but I would like to get on with it this year. I might work with the same people again, but I haven’t got far enough along to know.”

You were influenced by jazz singers. Would you ever play with a big band?

“There might be something like that coming up later this year. I’d like to but I’m worried about it. I’ve always been interested in jazz and that’s what I love, but quite a lot of the time commercial or successful artists do a big band or jazz album, and it’s cheesy, if I’m honest.”

Is there anyone in particular you would like to work with?

“I’d love to work with Andre 3000 from Outkast, and I’d love to work with [Blur’s] Damon Albarn. I think everything he touches turns to gold. Everything he does is so good.”

Are you looking forward to swapping the concert hall for a woodland stage this summer?

“I’m really excited about these shows. It’s going to be a great experience so I hope you will be able to join me on my woodland adventure this summer.”

Congratulations on your Brit Awards nominations for Best Album and Best British Female Artist. How does that make you feel?

“I’m delighted to have been nominated. I don’t expect to win, but it’s so wonderful to be acknowledged for contributing something to British music.

“I am very proud to be British and so happy to do something I love.”

You’re an actress too. What can we see you in?

“I’m in the BBC1 adaptation of PG Wodehouse’s Blandings on Sunday evenings. I’m just appearing as a character called Jordan who’s in episode five of the series; she’s basically a 1920s version of me. She’s a London cabaret performer and is a bit playful, and quite cheeky.

“I had an audition – I don’t think they even knew I was an actress. I went to an audition and they said that they liked my interpretation of the character and I said ‘I’m just being myself’!”

• Paloma Faith plays Leeds O2 Academy on January 27 before making her York Barbican debut with a sold-out show on February 1. Doors open that night at 7pm.

• Tickets for Paloma’s Forestry Commission Forest Live concert with special guests at Dalby Forest, near Pickering, on June 29 go on sale today at 9am at the Forestry Commission box office, 03000 680400 or online at forestry.gov.uk/music. The price is £32 plus a booking fee and the money raised from Paloma’s concert and Blondie’s Dalby date the night before will go to Forestry Commission woodland projects in North Yorkshire.