Paris Paloma - "Cacophony"

Dark Folk-Pop for women living in the 2020s

Paris Paloma’s much-anticipated debut has a lot to say about mental health and interpersonal boundaries. And Paloma does not hold back. Her lyricism is vivid, relatable, and frequently rife with imagery. That is as true with the album’s three-minute opener as it is with her viral hit, “Labour”.

It’s that song — “Labour” — which really made all of this click into place for Paloma. The feminist march/anthem first went viral on TikTok in March of 2023, and has been a mainstay on the app ever since, though it spiked again when Paloma released a new version with a parenthetical in the title “(the Cacophony)” at the anniversary of its original release; then again after Harrison Butker’s comments during a commencement speech.

If you’re one of the twelve people in the English-speaking world who hasn’t heard at least a bit of the song — check it out. Its anthemic approach to the divisions of domestic and emotional labor within “traditional” heterosexual relationships, going back generations, and the resonance of that message amongst women, is only a fraction of the song’s charm. It also demonstrates Paloma’s approach to songwriting with the aforementioned vivid lyricism as well as her light, rhythm-forward folk-pop style.

All of that bleeds through the entirety of Cacophony. Each song here is intensely melodic. And when I say “rhythm-forward”, I mean that the melodies are unbreakably interwoven with the lyrical rhythm; each song moves like it has its own personality, and there is, broadly-speaking, very little legato here.

Part of what makes Paloma’s lyricism so different, as she has discussed in various interviews, such as this one with Paper and this one with Name 3 Songs, is that Paloma grew up leaning into the visual arts. In the latter interview, she states:

“I’m just a really visual person, always have been. I studied fine art and history of art throughout my teens and at university . . . I like to really visualise the songs I’m writing and I like to build that world and kind of describe it for the listener . . . It’s not something I consciously do, to be honest. I think it’s just kind of the way my brain works”

So when she talks about having to walk on eggshells about a boyfriend in “Drywall”, poisoning the Patriarchy in “As Good a Reason”, or relating the incredible story of a Triassic-era fossil find in “Triassic Love Song”, the imagery is thorough and vibrant. For an artist whose initial focus was visual, she’s an incredible poet.

Each of the album’s fifteen songs brings something new to the table. They’re all amazing in their own way, and there are very few tracks here which feel like album-fillers, as they all weigh in on this overarching existentiality with focal points on interpersonal boundaries, communication, relationships, and mental health. That last item comes through most strongly on “Bones On the Beach” and “The Hunter”; the latter of those would fit decently well lyrically, conceptually, and metaphorically on Mothica’s Kissing Death, which I reviewed just a couple of weeks ago.

Cacophony could still have a stronger throughline, I feel, but it is still a gorgeous and streamlined collection of songs. It’s an amazing first effort from a promising young singer/songwriter, and it’s going to be blaring in my home for months to come.

Rating: Lavender Purple