There’s an agonising build-up to Paloma Faith’s appearance on the Vicar St. stage tonight; a team of technicians in joke shop prison uniforms meticulously prepare the floor for an eight-piece band, the set is dressed with two chunky metallic palm trees and whoever’s in charge of lighting spends what seems like an eternity messing around with the spotlights.
There’s even more faffing about when the show begins; band in place, Faith finally enters to a moody, self-delivered monologue and proceeds to pull a lot of elongated, silent film-era shapes. Of course, the minute our silk-draped hostess launches into her melancholy first number, we can see that the theatrics have paid off.
Less pop star and more tortured silver-screen heroine, Faith has demonstrably gone to great lengths to make this tour special, jettisoning her usual routine of costume changes and cabaret-style banter for something slow, sophisticated and stylish.
“I’m trying to make it arty,” she admits, a couple of songs in, breaking character and surrendering to her delightfully goofy personality, “I don’t want to ruin the illusion with my accent and everything!”
Faith’s expansive second album Fall To Grace certainly calls for something different than we’ve seen from her before; ‘80s rawk guitar, throbbing disco beats and aerobic-appropriate tempos must all be represented, while songs from her career-making debut are, somewhat cruelly, sent to the back of the class.
“Try to find something good about them,” she advises of four songs from Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful?, “that’s what we have to do!”
Our pom-pom wearing MC is forgetting that the album in question contains her catchiest material to date, if not her most commercially appreciated, and that some of the more lethargic numbers from the current record are a little, well, dull.
In a 70-minute show, there are only three really dynamite moments, but with a perfectionist like Paloma behind the wheel, three’s enough to justify the price of a ticket. Older number ‘Upside Down’ is delivered with irresistible stomp and sass, suped up with some big-band percussion and a tropical arrangement.
Dynamite moment number two comes with sublime piano ballad ‘Just Be’, a song so hopelessly sentimental and emotionally charged that it brings the whole room to a standstill. Gospel anthem ‘Freedom’ is the third star of the setlist, a Candi Staton-sized hosanna with a killer Jackson Five-esque bridge, which Paloma delivers standing triumphantly atop the grand piano.
Yup, for all her lofty intentions, pop’s Mad Hatter just can’t help being her brash, bolshy self. As visually arresting as it is to see her play the part of heartbroken goddess, she’s at her most charming tossing off her heels, clicking her fingers and grinding up against her guitarist, silk gown and all.