PALOMA Faith will follow up the November 17 release of her fourth studio album, The Architect, with a 14-date tour next year that will open at Leeds First Direct Arena on March 2. Tickets will go on sale tomorrow at 9am via gigst.rs/Paloma and gigsandtours.com.

Faith is one of only two British female artists this decade to have their past three albums go double platinum in Britain – you can guess the other – and she now returns with her first record since 2014’s A Perfect Contradiction and her first since giving birth to her first child.

The album, on the RCA label, features an array of co-writers, producers and collaborators, such as Sia, John Legend, Jesse Shatkin, TMS, Starsmith, Tobias Jesso Jr, Eg White, Rag'n'Bone Man and spoken-word contributions from Hollywood actor Samuel L Jackson and political journalist and activist Owen Jones.

Faith, winner of the 2015 BRIT Award for British Female Solo Artist, explores personal and political themes on the new record. "The Architect is a social observation record," says the 36-year-old Londoner. "I was adamant that I wouldn’t write about love. I wanted to look outside of myself. I’m coming at politics from the perspective of the common man or woman, observing why people are suffering. Each song on the record is about a different pocket of the socio-political world that I’ve been delving into."

While the music bears the familiar Paloma Faith trademark of sweeping orchestral tracks, smooth soul, sleek disco grooves and stomping electro-pop, the lyrics cover such topics as motherhood, social anxiety, wealth inequality, technology’s impact on feelings of alienation, not to mention the future of the Western world, Donald Trump, Brexit and the refugee crisis.

York Press:

Paloma Faith's cover artwork for her new album, The Architect

"I wanted to write something more modern. On previous albums I’ve been more concerned with the past, but now I’m looking forward because of motherhood and wanting to change things for a better future. It’s a marriage of old and new," says Faith.

The track listing comprises: Evolution, featuring Samuel L Jackson; The Architect; Guilty; Crybaby; I’ll Be Gentle, with John Legend; Politics Of Hope, with Owen Jones; Kings And Queens; Surrender; Warrior; Til I’m Done; Lost And Lonely; Still Around; Pawns, with Baby N’Sola, Janelle Martin and Naomi Miller; WW3 and Love Me As I Am. Bonus tracks on the deluxe version will be Power To The Peaceful; Tonight’s Not The Only Night; My Body and Price Of Fame.

Title track The Architect presents Faith as Mother Nature, singing to humanity, while Guilty reflects on the Brexit vote from the perspective of a Leave voter who regrets their choice. Lead single Crybaby ponders whether war would cease to exist if men dealt successfully with their emotions, and Lost And Lonely is sung from the viewpoint of a skeleton. Warrior, penned by Sia, addresses the refugee crisis.

String arrangements on The Architect, Warrior and I’ll Be Gentle were written by David Arnold, the film and television composer best known for his work on James Bond films and Sherlock.

Faith has just released the dystopian video for first single Crybaby. Directed by Thomas James and shot in Ukraine, it opens with footage of IVF, a newborn baby and a young girl, before a man addresses a group of uniformed young people, including the girl, in a human factory. He gives a speech on qualities such as emotion, empathy and feeling, saying they are "for the weak, for those we leave behind, for those that we remove from the crop". Faith then appears as one of the people in the institution as she encounters the brutal training of those who are imprisoned.