A Perfect Contradiction

Paloma Faith has always distinguished herself from her sisterhood of British belters (Adele, et al) with her penchant for retro revivalism, and on her third record she casts a wide net, nodding to '50s doo-wop, '60s Motown, and '70s disco and funk. "Can't Rely On You," cowritten by Pharrell Williams, is a fiery soul-funk workout, and "Mouth to Mouth" is a disco dance party, as befits a tune cowritten by Raphael Saadiq. But it's the towering, wall-of-sound ballad "Only Love Can Hurt Like This," penned by the legendary Dianne Warren, that anchors the record, highlighting Faith's powerhouse vocals as well as her stellar taste in retro-futurist aesthetics.