Paloma Faith heads back to Bristol: 'I’m two years in, and I don’t feel healed'

Paloma Faith makes a welcome return to Bristol on her latest UK tour to promote her eagerly-awaited sixth studio album The Glorification of Sadness.

The record marks a significant chapter for the singer but it’s more than an album about relationships. 

The Glorification of Sadness is a celebration of finding your way back after leaving a long term relationship, being empowered even in your failures and taking responsibility for your own happiness. 

It is her most personal album to date, drawing on her own experiences with Paloma directing a deeply personal narrative on songs like How You Leave A Man and Say My Name.

This is Paloma's first album since Infinite Things in November 2020 and is the first time in her career where she has executively produced a record. The album features collaborators Chase & Status, Kojey Radical, Maverick Sabre, Lapsley, MJ Cole, Fred Cox, Amy Wadge, Liam Bailey and Jaycen Joshua.

Paloma, who plays Bristol Beacon on April 15, says writing the album was ‘very healing and cathartic’ although promoting the record hasn’t been quite so easy. 

“I guess when I wrote this album, it was very healing and cathartic. But going on to do this promo for it is proving to be a bit more difficult than I anticipated because I’m talking about it all the time, and it is still quite sad. 

“It’s an interesting one because it healed me in a way, but now it’s making it slow down by just going over and over again. But, hopefully, when I get the songs out, I’ll be like, ‘This is cathartic and amazing’.”

Paloma says that one of the things that has helped her move on since the relationship break-up has been not trying to distract herself from her feelings. 

"The last time I was single, I didn’t have children. So, I did a lot of distracting myself. I’d just jump onto another relationship or go out and get drunk, but you can’t really do that when you’ve got children.

“And I think it's about accepting that life will be full of disappointments, and if we make our mistakes, we'll feel misunderstood. Accepting that as part of it, but just knowing that time is a good healer. And it takes a lot longer when kids are involved. It's been quick for me in the past, but I’m two years in, and I don’t feel healed.”

Paloma Faith is at Bristol Beacon on April 15. For tickets, click here.