Paris Paloma – my mind (now) Review

One of many fresh faces to take to the Leeds Festival stage, Paris Paloma is an artist worth shoving yourself through the crowds for. Their latest EP, my mind (now), is an exceptional example of her talents. Listen in before Paloma makes her way up the lineup, it is cooler to say you heard Yeti open the Festival Republic stage on a hungover Sunday than it is to hear her in the halls of big venues, as is the path for Paloma with quality like this. What did you do wrong? The repetition of such a simple yet heartbreaking question gives Paloma a chance to horrify her audience into listening in. Social media booms benefit the best, and worst. Thankfully Paloma is the former for this crop of TikTok-fuelled artists. 

For a debut EP, this is a stellar example of Paloma’s talents. A real pool of quality, though it takes getting past the mass-played Labour to get there. It is a fine track, a decent and accessible song which should serve as a launch pad into other works. Do not get hung up on the tones of fatigue, the wonderful sense of doubt in love overlaps the tortured living which comes from being so highly strung and out of it that life just passes on by. We have all been there, and living in this manner is no way to experience the world. Yet it becomes an inevitability for those who find themselves struggling to find balance in their own life, and Paloma marks an effective attempt at salvaging what she can from a period of imbalance. Some people do it for years, working away and shunning the outside world, we are all guilty of it, but Labour may mark a spark of change in someone.  

my mind (now) is an EP filled with self-acceptance. The likes of As Good a Reason demand the listener to bottle their rage and save it for a special occasion, and the boiling point will be reached. Paloma has such a grand hold on the world around her and the fear which flows through it yet convinces us to hold out for a moment worth shouting about, otherwise we end up flat on our backs and out of breath for all the rightful anger we exude. Pick your battles, then, the cup of poison that is living can only be filled so much. Great and catchy works within, and the lyrical strength throughout marks a real treat. Drywall makes good on those moments of quelling rage for a later date. 

As does EP closer Yeti. Is the rage worth it if your paths are never set to cross again? Mutual friends may come and go, the little snippets of information on the life of someone no longer in yours will still infiltrate, though the concept of their existence no longer matters. Paloma charts a sudden love, surge of anger and violence and falls away with an acceptance of the rough patch, a bottling of the rage and an exceptionally tender, mature response to the troubles of life. It marks her music not just as an influence on those who find themselves in similar positions but as an instrumental slice of quality, the sway of acoustics on EP closer Yeti paired with the slight flickers of stomping apathy are a great victory for her sound.