ASCAP College Award

Paloma Faith for Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful?

Publisher: Salli Issak Music Limited / Universal Music Publishing

Born in Hackney, London, Paloma Faith is half Spanish and half British. As an ex magician's assistant, trained contemporary dancer, St Martin's alumni with an MA in theatre direction, a performer in burlesque shows, and an actress, Paloma has been mixing artistic media throughout her short adult life. A few years ago she introduced music, her primary love, into the equation, at first mimicking the blues and soul singers she so admired, but eventually finding her own voice.

The rise of Paloma Faith took a sudden vault forward just two years ago when the release of her debut single "Stone Cold Sober" had to be brought forward a month because UK radio had leapt on it with such fervor that they quite literally couldn't be stopped from playing it.

By then, audiences at Paloma Faith's live shows were already dressing up and already knew the words to all the songs, even though most of the songs weren't released until the full debut, Do You Want the Truth of Something Beautiful? came out that autumn. The album went Platinum and stayed in the top 40 for over forty weeks, spawning five singles: "Stone Cold Sober," "New York," "Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?," "Upside Down," and "Smoke and Mirrors."

Paloma Faith's live performance is show for all of your senses. The stage is immaculately dressed by Paloma to reflect her highly-tuned visual sensibility. She might emerge sporting a huge feather plume, a variation on the showgirl, but one who takes her influences from a vast knowledge of film and theatrical culture. An acute sense of dynamic and drama punctuate the show; this is no arcane performance - this is something that could easily touch huge crowds in stadiums, so universal are the songs.