Paris Paloma first made her mark with 2023’s viral hit, ‘labour’, a song that resonated with and empowered the hearts and minds of every woman whose headphones it graced. Its themes of love, justice and femininity were softly woven throughout the entirety of Paloma’s debut album, ‘Cacophony’, which solidified her as one of the most innovative modern songwriters in the indie music space.
Now, after almost a year of teasers and buildup since the lead single, ‘Good Boy', was released (with a spoken introduction from Dame Emma Thompson and a music video featuring Hunger Games star Tom Blyth no less), Paloma’s second studio album, ‘The Fatal Flaw,’ will finally be in the hands of her dedicated fans this September 4th.
If ‘Cacophony,’ with all its thoughtful commentary and reflection, felt akin to a held breath, then ‘The Fatal Flaw’ is Paloma’s exhale. The whole album is wonderfully passionate and pulsing, full of life, art, visceral anger and soundscapes that can only be described as hope incarnate. The sonic and emotional expansion, however, does in no way come at the cost of Paloma’s lyrical detail. The album features many art, literature and mythology references - all of which have been handled with such care that they never once feel forced or jarring, and are guaranteed to capture the curiosity of every listener. Paloma applies this same lyrical grace to the more emotional moments on 'The Fatal Flaw’, her poetically polished chaos perfectly capturing the reality of freedom, anger and heartbreak.
The album opens with her third single, ‘Miyazaki’, named for Hayao Miyazaki, the creative mastermind behind Studio Ghibli. The song, and consequently the whole album, opens with the line “I have something to say” - immediately plunging the listener into Paloma’s immaculately crafted world. The song itself is inspired by Paloma’s love for human-made art, and her hatred towards the rise of generative AI within the creative industries. Despite the fear and anger present, the song is one of hope. Lyrics “I won’t let you take it from me / Changes the colour of the air that I breathe” are a call to arms to stand and fight for your passions.
‘Rothko’, the second track on the album, introduces the key threads of ‘The Fatal Flaw.’ At its core, ‘Rothko’ is a gentle heartbreak anthem about longing for love and acceptance. Lyrics such as “One of my biggest fears is that I’ll never find love in this lifetime / Hungry for a feeling that I’ll only ever see from the sidelines” are some of the hardest hitting on the entire project, and the song’s gentle premise of being unable to cry in front of an infamously moving Rothko painting is the perfect image to accompany the song’s fervent hopelessness.
The later lyric, “I find myself bleeding, and it seems that it’s never even for the right reasons”, is a wonderful bridging point into the next two tracks, ‘Stem the Flow’ and ‘The Bleeding Part of Me.’ Both songs use the image of bleeding out to represent a love that Paloma cannot stop or “stem” - no matter how cruel its existence. It goes without saying that these are two of the most violent moments of the album, and the latter song’s whispered bridge is a truly chill-inducing moment.
Paloma slows things down with ‘get her the f*cking flowers’, a confessional song in which she comes to terms with this doomed relationship. It poetically depicts her final attempts at earning a partner’s love (“I would go hunting and whatever I caught / I would wrap it up and leave at your door”) before realising she deserves far better than this (“And I will never bleed again / Just to be loved / It’s not enough) and finally stemming the flow.
The art focus returns in her fifth single, ‘Pre-Raphaelite' - a stunning tribute to feminine beauty without sexualisation. This strong, feminist lens is carried over to the surprisingly synthy ‘Good Girl', a song that embraces self-love and body-positivity with wild abandon.
Paloma’s storytelling strength is fully realised in ‘Pyrrhus (you go where I cannot)’, a song that works to reclaim the voices of history’s lost women. It is told from the perspective of Greek King Pyrrhus’ mother, who reflects on her son’s lost innocence as she laments the cruel and ambitious man he has become. Lyrics like “I miss the child you were” and “I used to be your God” reflect the great, juxtaposed reality of motherhood, and the harsh pain faced when you lose both the love and respect of a life you created and nurtured. Despite its fictional nature, ‘Pyrrhus’ is easily one of the record’s most cutting moments.
‘Silhouette on the Hill’ with its Western atmosphere and haunting vocals, is guaranteed to become a fan favourite when played live on ‘The Fatal Flaw’ Tour this autumn. This is followed by the aforementioned single ‘Good Boy’, a simmering critique of the patriarchy littered with bold production choices and powerful undercurrents of feminine rage. Even within the album’s context, it remains a defining moment.
The album’s outlier in many ways, ‘Beautiful Birds’ is, after all of Paloma’s societal critiques, a moment of appreciation for the natural world around us. The song brings to mind carefree visions of tropical birds swooping through a clear blue sky, and heralds the calm after the ten-song storm that came before.
The record concludes with ‘I Cry in Front of Paintings’, Paloma’s epilogue, in which she connects all the branches to create the red tree that is symbiotic of ‘The Fatal Flaw’. Her admission of “I cry in front of paintings now / But not the ones I thought” brings us back to her initial fears in front of the Rothko, and resonates with the listener as the moment of self-love and acceptance Paloma needed in order to document and overcome the hardships laid bare within this album.
This track’s symphonic ending is a culmination of each step taken throughout ‘The Fatal Flaw’, of every truth unearthed and every stone unturned, leaving the listener with a thoughtful sense of freedom that will stick with them long after the song is complete.
‘The Fatal Flaw’ is easily Paris Paloma’s greatest achievement to date. The whole project is wonderfully visceral - a true work of both observation and insight. Lyrically, beneath its referential glamour, Paloma’s subtext is deeply personal, relatable and brave. Be it heartbreak, body dysmorphia, the patriarchy or the looming threat of AI, Paloma expertly plants the seeds of some of life’s greatest fatal flaws, and carefully tends to them until they grow into something worthwhile. ‘The Fatal Flaw’ is a love letter to living, and never again will there be an album so raw, yet so fulfilled.
Rachel Furnish
Image: ‘The Fatal Flaw’ Official Album Cover
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