Paris Paloma - Cacophony

When Paris Paloma first released her charged, patriarchy-beating single ‘labour’ last year, it was clear that the young songwriter was going to make a stir. Now, for her debut full-length, she’s offered up a cacophony; not just in name, but in defiant spirit. A journey through which our narrator is faced with some of her darkest moments and warmest touches, it’s an album that feels both daring and delicate, tracking the growth of Paris personally and professionally. Opening track ‘my mind (now)’ offers an unexpected start, with its mesmeric opening lines (the evocative swathes of “What did I do wrong?” are devastating in context) soon thrust aside in favour of a more calamitous noise, nodding to the life-changing cacophony the album’s named after. Much like with her breakout track, her deft lyricism is haunting across the record, as she explores the pain and abuse faced by women, girls and trans people at the hands of our patriarchal society (take ‘last woman on earth’’s unnerving refrain, “Leave me to the beast and / Bears, I rather that the feast is / Theirs, they can’t reserve neighbouring plots / Or request to be buried on top”), her dark subject matter still managing to seem rich and beautiful. An affecting record that has one foot in the worlds of myth, and another firmly planted in the modern day, ‘cacophony’ proves Paris Paloma to be a powerful voice, telling stories that demand to be heard.