Paris Paloma (born 17 November 1999) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. She gained prominence through the single " Labour" (2023). Her debut album ''

Cacophony Phonaesthetics (also spelled phonesthetics in North America) is the study of the beauty and pleasantness associated with the sounds of certain words or parts of words. The term was first used in this sense, perhaps by during the mid-20th century ...

'' was released in 2024.

Early life

Paloma grew up in

Ashbourne, Derbyshire Ashbourne is a market town in the Derbyshire Dales district in Derbyshire, England. Its population was measured at 8,377 in the 2011 census and was estimated to have grown to 9,163 by 2019. It has many historical buildings and independent sho ...

, and attended a girls-only boarding school,

Cheltenham Ladies' College Cheltenham Ladies' College (CLC) is a private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding and day school for girls aged 11 or older in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school was established in 1853 to provide "a sound academic edu ...

. She studied Fine Art and History of Art at

Goldsmiths, University of London Goldsmiths, University of London, formerly Goldsmiths College, University of London, is a constituent research university of the University of London. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...

(BFA) in 2022.

Career

Paris met her first producer Harry Charlton in March 2020, with whom she made her debut single "Narcissus" and then "Ocean Baby", "Cradle" and "Underneath". During the

COVID-19 lockdown During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions, particularly lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions), were implemented in numero ...

, Paloma joined the Hybrid Tribe programme and was discovered by David Fernandez of High Plateau Productions. She released her debut EP ''cemeteries and socials'' in 2021. She continued putting out singles, including "The Fruits" and "It's Called: Freefall" (a cover originally written by Rainbow Kitten Surprise). Her cover of "Tell It to My Heart" was promoted by

Hozier Andrew John Hozier-Byrne (born 17 March 1990), known professionally as Hozier ( ), is an Irish musician. His music primarily draws from Folk music, folk, Soul music, soul and blues, often using religious and literary themes and taking politica ...

on social media. Paloma subsequently signed with

Nettwerk Nettwerk Music Group is an independent record label founded in 1984. The Vancouver-based company was created by principals Terry McBride and Mark Jowett as a record label to distribute recordings by the band Moev, but the label expanded in Ca ...

in 2022, through which she released her first singles under the label "Forsaken" in December 2022 and "Notre Dame" in February 2023. In March 2023, Paloma broke out with the single " Labour", described as a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

anthem about the unpaid domestic labour women have been made to do throughout history. The song received 1 million streams on Spotify within 24 hours of release, and 1 million views on YouTube. A viral

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

trend started in which various women around the world related the song to their own experiences with sexism. "Labour" became Paloma's first charting single in the UK and on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' in the US. "Labour" was followed by further singles "Yeti" featuring Old Sea Brigade in July, "As Good a Reason" in September, and "Drywall" in October. She performed at the 2023

Bonnaroo Bonnaroo (or Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival) is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Bonnaroo has taken place at what is now Great Stage Park, a 700-acre (280 ha) far ...

Summerfest Summerfest is an annual music festival held in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. First held in 1968, Summerfest is located at Henry Maier Festival Park, adjacent to Lake Michigan and Milwaukee's Third Ward business district. Summerfest is known ...

TRNSMT TRNSMT (pronounced as "Transmit") is a music festival staged at Glasgow Green in Glasgow, Scotland, organised by DF Concerts. History An early line-up for the first TRNSMT festival was revealed in January 2017, two months after the announceme ...

All Points East All Points East is an annual music festival held over two weekends in London's Victoria Park, run by AEG Presents. The 10-day event comprises one festival weekend, four days of free entry and community activities known as "In the Neighbourhood" ...

, and

Live at Leeds ''Live at Leeds'' is the first live album by the English rock music, rock band the Who, recorded at the University of Leeds Refectory on 14 February 1970 and released on 11 May 1970, by Decca Records, Decca and MCA Records, MCA in the United St ...

. At the start of 2024, Paloma released the single "My Mind (Now)". In February 2024, Paloma supported

Maisie Peters Maisie Hannah Peters (born 28 May 2000) is an English singer-songwriter. She began her professional career independently, releasing two singles, "Place We Were Made" and "Birthday". In 2018, she signed with Atlantic Records, releasing two EPs a ...

on the Europe leg of Peters' The Good Witch Tour. This was followed by a five-date UK headline tour in May and then U.S. dates. Paloma made her debut at the 2024 Glastonbury Music Festival on the

BBC Introducing BBC Music Introducing is BBC Radio's platform supporting unsigned, undiscovered, and under-the-radar UK music talent. The backbone of that network consists of 32 BBC local radio shows on stations across England and the Channel Islands, various ...

stage. She was named a Future Artist by

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

. Paloma also appeared at the Best Kept Secret, BST Hyde Park where she supported

Stevie Nicks Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist. After starting her career as a duo with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, releasing the album ...

Splendour in the Grass Splendour in the Grass (commonly referred to as Splendour) is an annual Australian music festival held at the North Byron Parklands in Yelgun, New South Wales. Since its inauguration, the festival has also been held in various locations near ...

, and Reading and Leeds. At the end of August 2024 via Nettwerk, Paloma released her debut album ''Cacophony''. Ahead of its release, she shared the track "The Warmth". In September, she embarked on a headline tour in Europe, supported by Sarah Julia. For '' The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim'' (2024) soundtrack, Paloma performed an original song titled "The Rider", composed by David Long. Paloma will take her tour to North America with 15 dates in 2025.

Artistry

During her childhood, Paloma's mother would play soul and jazz in the household. As she grew up, she developed an admiration for lyricists who tell stories and use wordplay in both simple and complex ways, such as

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

. Sheeran's debut album '' +'' (2011) inspired Paloma to learn guitar. This translated into a further love for the storytelling of

Florence + the Machine Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

and

, who "massively" influenced her. She cited

Grimes Claire Elise Boucher (; born March 17, 1988), known professionally as Grimes, is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her lyrics often touch on science fiction and feminist themes. The visuals in her videos are elabora ...

for her "worldbuilding" and

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

as further influences, and also mentioned enjoying

The Mountain Goats The Mountain Goats are a United States band formed in Claremont, California, Claremont, California, by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. The band is currently based in Durham, North Carolina, Durham, North Carolina. For many years, the sole me ...

and

Harry Nilsson Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal overdub experi ...

. Paloma often looks towards literature and mythology in her songwriting, as well as fine art. Her debut single "Narcissus" was directly inspired by artwork of the titular Greek myth, and her second single "Ocean Baby" evoked the characteristics of

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), later known as the Pre-Raphaelites, was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, ...

paintings. Her 2021 single "the last beautiful thing i saw is the thing that blinded me" alludes to

Daphne du Maurier Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, (; 13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989) was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Her parents were actor-manager Gerald du Maurier, Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumont. Her gra ...

's ''

Rebecca Rebecca () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical tradition, Rebecca's father was Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram, also called Aram-Naharaim. Rebecca's brother was Laban (Bi ...

'', while

Madeline Miller Madeline Miller (born July 24, 1978) is an American novelist, author of '' The Song of Achilles'' (2011) and ''Circe'' (2018). Miller spent ten years writing ''The Song of Achilles'' while she worked as a teacher of Latin and Greek. The novel tel ...

's ''

Circe In Greek mythology, Circe (; ) is an enchantress, sometimes considered a goddess or a nymph. In most accounts, Circe is described as the daughter of the sun god Helios and the Oceanid Perse (mythology), Perse. Circe was renowned for her vast kn ...

'' (2017) shaped parts of her 2023 single "Labour". Her debut album ''Cacophony'' drew from

Stephen Fry Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...

's ''

Mythos Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

'' (2017); she also read Mona Chollet's ''In Defense of Witches'' (2022).

Discography

Albums

* ''

'' (2024)

EPs

* ''Cemeteries and Socials'' (2021) * ''Paris Paloma on Audiotree Live'' (2024)

Singles

* "Narcissus" (2020) * "Ocean Baby" (2020) * "Underneath" (2021) * "Cradle" (2021) * "The Last Beautiful Thing I Saw Is the Thing That Blinded Me" (2021) * "Village Song" (2021) * "Lily Rice" (2021) * "What Have I Done?" (2021) * "The Fruits" (2022) * "It's Called: Freefall" (2022) * "Forsaken" (2022) * "Notre Dame" (2023) * " Labour" (2023) * "Yeti" * "As Good a Reason" (2023) * "Drywall" (2023) * "My Mind (Now)" (2024) * "Boys, Bugs and Men" (2024) * "The Warmth" (2024)

Miscellaneous

* "Tell It to My Heart" (2021) * ''Broken Glass, Vol. 6'' (2023) * "The Rider" (2024)

Music videos

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paloma, Paris 1999 births 21st-century English guitarists 21st-century English singer-songwriters 21st-century English women singers Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London British feminist musicians English feminists British folk-pop singers British indie folk musicians British women folk musicians English women guitarists English women singer-songwriters Living people Musicians from Derbyshire People educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College People from Ashbourne, Derbyshire