THE artwork on Paloma Faith’s albums is always fabulous. A Perfect Contradiction in all its glorious mock pre-Raphaelite splendour is no exception, and will encourage curiosity from a much wider audience than a hard-core fan base.
The album sounded promising, given the lead single, Can’t Rely On You (co-written by man of the month, Pharrell Williams and produced by Williams and veteran Soul act Betty Wright). But actually A Perfect Contradiction is merely a re-tread of ventures past without the excitement. Even the golden pen of Diane Warren, who contributes Only Love Can Hurt Like This, fails to live up to expectations.
It’s not that the songs on Paloma’s third album are less than solid and consistent, but somehow that magical spark is missing. This was remedied on Faith’s last LP, Fall From Grace, with a last minute cover of INXS’s Never Tear Us Apart. One suspects a similar late addition is required to give the new album longer legs.
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