The title refers to the women in portraits by artists of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, who were depicted as opposing “conventional” Victorian beauty standards. Paloma commemorates these women through her new song by referencing the paintings as well as their contributions to the movement while admiring them as important historical figures rather than simply muses.
The song morphs a fairytale with a modern pop cadence to bring praise to women while respecting them as the centre of the success of the art. She uses the song to say that she sees these women as more than history has assumed of them: “And men swear blood oaths for their Helen / But she needs no such defender / Spider writing on her letters / I know her more, I know her better”.
The single is reminiscent of the whimsicality of Florence and the Machine, with odes to romanticism and a fantastical melody. Florence Welch herself has been considered a modern Pre-Raphaelite muse, with her long red locks and fancifulness. Channeling the delicate daydreaming of songs such as ‘Cosmic Love’, Paris Paloma uses the sound to write a love letter to the women of Pre-Raphaelite art.
In an age where women are being sexualised for their looks without consent, Paris resists with a lesson on admiration of women without humiliation.
Molly Beairsto
Image:Phoebe Fox
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