Polly Paulusma (born 10 November 1976) is an English singer-songwriter.

Career

Paulusma's first album, ''Scissors in my Pocket'', was largely recorded and produced by herself at her home. Her second album, ''Cosmic Rosy Spine Kites'' (an

anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into the phrase "nag a ram"; which ...

of the first album's title) features the same tracks, four of which were recorded with a

string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

; the rest at a gig in Manchester, England, where she supported

Jamie Cullum Jamie Paul Joseph Cullum (born 20 August 1979) is an English jazz-pop singer, pianist, songwriter and radio presenter. Although primarily a vocalist and pianist, he also accompanies himself on other instruments, including guitar and drums. He h ...

. She has supported other artists on tour including;

Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (29 December 1946 – 30 January 2025) was an English singer and actress who achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her UK top 10 single " As Tears Go By". She became one of the leading female art ...

and

Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...

. Paulusma played at the

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

in 2005. In 2004, Paulusma self-produced her first album using her computer. Paulusma and her management used the internet, just as it was becoming widely accessible, and other contemporary methods of distribution to reach a larger audience. Two of Paulusma's tracks, "Over the Hill" and the live version of "She Moves in Secret Ways", were issued as free

downloads In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar systems. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote s ...

through Apple's iTunes Store. Paulusma was one of the first musicians to use

Myspace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

, her own website, blogs, and a link to a forum, to connect with them and keep them up-to-date on her touring and recording plans. Paulusma's third album ''Fingers and Thumbs'' was released in the June 2007 with its corresponding sister album ''Fights and Numbers'' as an iTunes-only digital download. Paulusma founded a small record label called Wild Sound Recordings Ltd in 2012 and in 2012 released ''Leaves from the Family Tree'' with its corresponding sister-album ''The Small Feat of my Reverie'' in 2014. Since 2012 Wild Sound has signed nine indie folk artists including Maz O'Connor, Stylusboy, Harry Harris, Matthew The Oxx, Dan Wilde and Mortal Tides. Paulusma teaches

Cambridge English Cambridge Assessment English or Cambridge English develops and produces Cambridge English Qualifications and the International English Language Testing System (International English Language Testing System, IELTS). The organisation contributed ...

undergraduates in Practical Criticism as part of the English Tripos. Paulusma is a postgraduate CHASE scholar at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

where she is researching the influence of traditional folksong on the writings of the British novelist

Angela Carter Angela Olive Pearce (formerly Carter, Stalker; 7 May 1940 – 16 February 1992), who published under the name Angela Carter, was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, and journalist, known for her feminist, magical realism, and picar ...

Critical acclaim

In 2004, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' described Paulusma on ''Scissors in My Pocket'' as, "a voice capable of some unexpected twists". ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' said ''Scissors in My Pocket'' was “an enchanting debut of understated, intelligent folk pop”. Uncut suggested Paulusma could be "a worthy successor" to

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...

. In 2012, ''Space City Rock'' reviewed ''Leaves From The Family Tree'', stating, "this could be a huge album". In 2021, ''For Folk's Sake'' reviewed ''Invisible Music: folk songs that influenced Angela Carter,'' calling it "a literary, clever, erudite, elegantly crafted offering from Polly Paulusma". In 2022, ''Folking'' called Paulusma's ''The Pivot On Which The World Turns "''a record that has an immense heartbeat with an eternal pulse".

Personal life

Paulusma is the daughter of medieval historian

Jonathan Riley-Smith Jonathan Simon Christopher Riley-Smith (27 June 1938 – 13 September 2016) was a historian of the Crusades, and, between 1994 and 2005, Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Cambridge. He was a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Ea ...

. Paulusma's first son was born on 10 November 2006 and her second son was born on 1 August 2008. Paulusma and her husband, Mick Paulusma, lived in the narrowest home in London for 12 years. Located in

Battersea Battersea is a large district in southwest London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and also extends along the south bank of the Thames Tideway. It includes the Battersea Park. Hist ...

, the 7-foot-7-inch-wide (2.31 m) home was where Paulusma recorded her first album ''Scissors in my Pocket'' and the demos for ''Fingers & Thumbs''. Since 2010, the couple have lived in Cambridge, England.

Discography

*''Scissors in My Pocket'' (2004) *''Dark Side'' (2004, single, with B-side) *''Cosmic Rosy Spine Kites'' (2005, live) *''Fingers & Thumbs'' (2007) *''Fights & Numbers'' (2007, iTunes only) *''Leaves From The Family Tree'' (2012) *''The Small Feat of My Reverie'' (2014) *'' Invisible Music - Folk Songs That Influenced Angela Carter'' (2021) *''The Pivot On Which The World Turns'' (2022) *''When Violent Hot Pitch Words Hurt'' (2023) *''Wildfires'' (2025, double album)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paulusma, Polly 1976 births 21st-century British women singers British folk rock musicians English folk musicians English folk singers English women singers English women singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters Living people Singers from London