I got a chance to listen to Paloma Faith’s sophomore album, Fall to Grace, today. I really like it, her voice reminds me of Taylor Dayne or Duffy. She has a soulful voice that people can’t get enough of (see Adele, Amy Winehouse, or Emeli Sande for example). As of this writing, Fall to Grace was certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry.

I thought the title was pretty clever/funny. It’s in reference to Lucifer falling from grace, but also a line taken from her song “Agony.”

Generally the album is quite pop with some soul. My personal favorite is “Blood, Sweat & Tears”, which has a bit of a pop song intro. The two singles (“Picking Up the Pieces” and “30 Minute Love Affair”) have similar love/lost themes that comes across in many of her songs.

The review copy I received did not include the bonus INXS cover “Never Tear Us Apart”, which kind of annoyed me because that song is also included on the US and reissue of Fall To Grace. You can watch the official music video for “Never Tear Us Apart” on YouTube.

As far as I know, she only did a tiny promotional tour in September with a David Letterman and a few local New York dates in December. This is what her tour itinerary looks like in 2013:

01/21/13 Dublin, Ireland Vicar Street

01/23/13 Manchester, UK O2 Apollo Manchester

01/24/13 Manchester, UK O2 Apollo Manchester

01/25/13 Nottingham, UK Royal Concert Hall

01/27/13 Leeds, UK O2 Academy Leeds

01/28/13 Glasgow, UK O2 Academy Glasgow

01/31/13 Newcastle, UK O2 Academy Newcastle

02/01/13 York, UK York Barbican

02/02/13 Wolverhampton, UK Civic Hall

02/04/13 Brighton, UK The Brighton Centre

02/05/13 Portsmouth, UK Portsmouth Guildhall

02/07/13 London, UK HMV Hammersmith Apollo

02/08/13 Southend-On-Sea, UK Cliffs Pavilion

02/09/13 Cardiff, UK Motorpoint Arena Cardiff

02/11/13 Sheffield, UK O2 Academy Sheffield

02/12/13 Leicester, UK De Montfort Hall

02/13/13 Blackpool, UK Opera House

02/15/13 Plymouth, UK Plymouth Pavilions

02/16/13 Reading, UK The Hexagon

02/17/13 Cambridge, UK Cambridge Corn Exchange

BRIEFLY, IN OTHER ANGEL/SAINTS/HEAVENLY NEWS:

HOW TO DESTROY ANGELS
howtodestroyangels.com

Have you heard of How to Destroy Angels? This is the new Trent Reznor project, teaming up with Mariqueen Maandig, Atticus Ross, and Rob Sheridan.

Their debut EP is called An Omen and was released November 13th on Columbia Records.

You can watch “Keep It Together” on vimeo.com.

FIRES
firesmusic.com

Angels in the Dark is the debut EP from the Fires, consisting of brothers Danny and Ryan Nicoletto.

Their biography lists a 90s influence (Butthole Surfers, Urge Overkill), so if you’re into that alt-rock sound, you definitely need to check out this Chicago duo.

POPSTRANGERS
facebook.com

Popstrangers’ debut full-length, Antipodes, comes out February 26th on Carpark Records. The New Zealand band recently unveiled their music video for “Heaven”, directed by Luke McPake, at YouTube (via Spin.com). You can listen to the audio at Soundcloud.

Antipodes Track Listing:

1. Jane
2. In Some Ways
3. Witches Hand
4. What Else Could They Do
5. Cat’s Eyes
6. Full Fat
7. Heaven
8. Roy Brown
9. 404
10. Occasion

HOTEL CAROLINA
welcometothehotelcarolina.com

Hotel Carolina is a singer/songwriter weekend music festival, taking place on February 1-2, 2013, at the Postcard Inn in St Pete Beach, Florida (note: not in North or South Carolina).

The lineup looks really good, we’ve covered a few of these artists before:

Brendan James
Matt Duke
Griffin House
Michael Tolcher
Ari Hest
Garrison Starr
Sarah Miles
Bracher Brown
Ken Yates
Jacob Jeffries