Paris Paloma 'The Fatal Flaw'
Written by Isabella Basile
One of the most vital feminist voices of the 21st century, Paris Paloma, known for hit single “Labour”, just released her second album The Fatal Flaw alongside “Silhouette on the Hill”, the third and final chapter of the video trilogy that began with “Good Boy” and “Good Girl”.\
Sparking a global feminist movement with anthem “Labour”, Paris continues to produce magnificent female rage songs with The Fatal Flaw. The album's name comes from Donna Tartt’s seminal novel The Secret History, consisting of 12 tracks, half being previously-released singles, the other half being new songs. The album explores the depths and heights of human emotions, with influences from the seascapes of J.W. Turner, the writings of intersectional feminist bell hooks, and the romanticism of the Pre-Raphaelites — a world of vast landscapes, ancient treasures and myth woven through song.
Paloma recalls on the album, “[The Fatal Flaw] is about love, and about art. There is nothing trivial or fleeting about it, they are songs for great halls, written as though you’re walking through tapestries and heavy paintings detailing battles and storms. I wrote these songs about those feelings that feel like they govern you and overwhelm you. I wrote them for everyone who has ever felt like ‘too much’ because of how deeply they feel everything.”
Lyrics, music videos, and cover art prove this statement. The album artwork is inspired by Ithell Colquhoun’s Diagrams of Love, it imagines the intricate root system at the album’s core: an arc from emotional blockage to overspill, and art as Paris’ most intimate relationship.
The track “Rothko” brings up artist Mark Rothko, while the visualiser is Paris painting herself red like Rothkro’s works Untitled (Red) 1956, Maroon Over Red 1968, Red 1968, and Untitled (Red on Red) 1969, with lyrics “I'm standing in front of the Rothko / They say that it makes people cry / I've been here for hours / But God knows why”.
My favorite song on the album “Pyrrhus (you go where I cannot)” is about the Greek king, Pyrrhus, who always suffered large losses during battle though remaining victorious. The track is chilling, with lyrics speaking on how Pyrrhus and others in war kill without remorse with lyrics “Do you hear the screams, Pyrrhus? / Do you hear the screams? / Hector's babe you killed, Pyrrhus / Is he in your dreams? / Do you see his eyes, Pyrrhus? / Do you see his eyes? / That old king you killed, Pyrrhus / Did it bring you pride?”.
My favorite lyric in the song, “He leaves my arms to take them up / Fight wars he doesn't give a fuck about” hits hard because its true. Men and boys leave the comfort of their homes only to be drafted in wars they did not wish to be involved in.
Image by Phoebe Fox
The trilogy “Good Boy”, “Good Girl”, and “Silhouette on the Hill” is directed by Georgie Cowan-Turner, “Silhouette on the Hill” starring House of the Dragon actor, Ewen Mitchell. The first track of the trilogy, “Good Boy” focuses on how men bury their pride to make money with lyrics “Mouths open / Servants of a higher power” and “Full circle / Wagging tails, wearing a collar”. As well as that, lyrics “And I would not expect you / to witness what we know / The songs sung in the dark times / the fire in the snow / We'll be piling up our pyre / and you defend your lords / And we will have our joy / but it will never be yours” and “Unrewarded for all of your defending / from your loneliness epidemic” is about how women are still struggling for their own rights, and how now, we are realizing we can make a difference when we support one another while the men wag their tales in hopes of climbing the corporate ladder.
The second track of the trilogy, “Good Girl”, is filled with affirmations of self love and feminist rage with beautiful spoken poetry at the beginning of the song “And you can scream at me all you want / that the greatest love affair is with myself / that it should be passionate, unwavering / No shadow of a doubt that I am / in love with my body! And my body is in love with me!” and lyrics “And if you call me good girl / one more time / then my fist will meet your skull” possibly alluding to taking back control of your own life.
The track also holds an artistic theme. The music video starts with a sculptor unveiling his new piece and caressing its lips. Once the sculptor is done, he admires his work and falls asleep with an apple in his hands. The sculpture, Paris, comes to life and follows the man around, later eating the apple that was once in the man's hands. I believe the story told in the music video and lyrics “A child in the garden” and “Heaven is a fed girl”, could be similar to the story of Adam and Eve, where Eve eats the apple to become the person Adam created. Where she is as obsessed with him as he was with creating her.
The third and final track of the trilogy “Silhouette on the Hill” starts off with 29 seconds of eerie silence, breathing, and birds chirping with a close up of actor Ewen Mitchell smiling down followed by screeching audio as we see he has killed Paris. The song tackles abuse, guilt, and forgiveness, lyrics “It's driven many better men crazy / The hunger for forgiveness for crimes”, “Don't want a part of your redemption arc”, and “Don't have the power to send back what's done by your hand / My blood mixed with the sand / and I limped out the desert” relate to how men try to ask for forgiveness for what they have done, such as abuse, when they don't deserve it.
Vocally dissonant mantra “I'm a silhouette on the hill” and the horse neigh that sounds like screams, is the guilt that follows the perpetrator throughout life, where he can not reach her to "apologize" for his wrongs. But when someone is hurt, especially in a situation like this, there is no room for forgiveness, only anger with lyrics “There was a time I would have gone hunting / For the blood of an already dead man / Just to have the satisfaction / That when you died it was by my hand” accompanied by drums that sound like war drums or gun shots. At the end of the music video, when Paris kills him off with her hands shaking, she is removing him from her life, still fearful of what he could have done to her.
With striking visuals and unforgettable vocal tone, Paris Paloma's The Fatal Flaw is a must watch and listen if you have not heard it already.
