Infinite Things

by Paloma Faith

Overview

Paloma Faith purportedly scrapped an entire album before reengineering the tracks on her own during the COVID-19 lockdown. The resulting album, 2020's Infinite Things, is rife with so much heartfelt emotion -- not to mention big, hooky choruses -- that the choice seems to have been a good one. The record follows her ambitious, conceptually driven 2017 album The Architect, which married slick pop production to songs about social upheaval, depression, and motherhood. Infinite Things is very much a companion work, though one that feels less archly designed, and on the best tracks, it's grounded in relatable emotionality that feels born out of everyday struggles. This, even when the melody reaches for the sky, as on the soaring title track. Co-written by Faith with Clarence Coffee, Jr. of the Monsterz & Strangerz and former Chairlift bassist Patrick Wimberly, the song is a buoyant anthem about the transformative connection between mother and child, and it sounds pleasantly like something Cyndi Lauper or Annie Lennox might have recorded in the 1980s. Other classic '80s and '90s sounds pop up throughout the album, as on the opening "Supernatural," with its icy Prince synths, and "Falling Down," with its soulful Truth or Dare-era Madonna vibe. Faith always has a good sense for who to work with, and here we get an especially funky collaboration between her, MNEK, and Starsmith on the electronic-tinged "Monster." That said, it's the spare, piano-driven songs that pack the most wallop, such as the shimmering Ed Harcourt co-write "If This Is Goodbye" and the heartbreaking "If Loving You Was Easy," written with Josef Salvat. The latter song finds Faith ruminating on the mundanity and pain of long-term relationships, singing "Remember the days when no ocean could keep me away/The light shone all night and we still had so much left to say/Now we watch TV so we can fill up the space/That's building between us, it feels like you're slipping away." The song is as grandly delivered as anything on the album, but gains its potency from the simplicity and bittersweet sentiment at its core. You can find this sentiment all throughout Infinite Things, that life is about the people we love. As she sings on the title track, "I see heaven in your eyes." ~ Matt Collar

Product Details

Release Date:	11/27/2020
Label:	Sony Music
UPC:	0194398092515
Rank:	57837

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Paloma Faith   Primary Artist,Vocals
Nathaniel Ledwidge   Vocals (Background),Bass,Drums,Piano,Guitar
Naomi Miller   Vocals (Background)
Dylan Wiggins   Guitar
Hayle Nyassa   Organ,Piano
Martin Lovatt   Trumpet
Ryan Coughlin   Guitar (Bass),Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Tre Jean-Marie   Synthesizer,Fender Rhodes,Bass,Drums,Piano,Guitar,Keyboards
Louis Dowdeswell   Trumpet
Aisha Stuart   Vocals (Background)
Gita Langley   Violin
Chris Laws   Drums
Howard McGill   Saxophone
Andy Wood   Trombone
Steve Mac   Keyboards
John Parricelli   Guitar
Richard Pryce   Double Bass
Tommy Danvers   Keyboards
David Stewart   Trombone
Rosie Danvers   Cello
Gregory Porter   Featured Artist
Daniel Traynor   Drums,Keyboards,Synthesizer
Patrick Wimberly   Keyboards,Synthesizer,Drums,Piano
Jordan Riley   Bass,Drums,Keyboards
Jamie N Commons   Keyboards,Vocals (Background)
Martin Williams   Saxophone
Peter Daley   Piano,Keyboards
Kevin Banks   Guitar (Electric)
Kerenza Peacock   Viola,Violin
Sam Dixon   Bass
Starsmith   Guitar,Keyboards,Synthesizer
Baby N'sola   Vocals (Background)
Davide Rossi   Strings
Jamie Hartman   Piano
Janelle Martin   Vocals (Background)
Jack Duxbury   Bass,Organ,Guitar,Synthesizer
Zara Benyounes   Viola,Violin

Technical Credits

Nathaniel Ledwidge   Amplifiers,Keyboard Programming,Engineer,Producer
James F. Reynolds   Mixing
Josh Record   Composer
Steve Max   Composer
Chieska Fortune Smith   Images
Chris Murdoch   Producer
Danny Hyland   Set Design
Khaya Cohen   Additional Production
Leandro Pitz Schroeder   Art Direction
Theo Adams   Creative Director
Tre Jean-Marie   Additional Production,Composer,Producer,Programming
Richard Zastenker   Composer
Sigrid   Composer
Ewan Vickery   Mixing Engineer,Mixing Assistant
Amanda Cygnaeus   Composer
Nosa Obasohan   Composer
Faouzia Ouihya   Composer
Nosa Apollo   Programming
Jamie Hartman   Producer,Composer
John Hanes   Mixing Engineer
Chris Laws   Engineer
Steve Mac   Composer,Producer
Toby Gad   Composer
Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson   Engineer
Daniel Pursey   Engineer
Tommy Danvers   Producer,Session Producer
Rosie Danvers   Brass Arrangement,String Arrangements
James Cunningham   Mixing Engineer,Mixing Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Salem al Fakir   Composer
Vincent Pontare   Composer
Patrick Wimberly   Producer,Amplifiers,Drum Programming,Composer,Engineer
Jordan Riley   Producer,Programming
Jamie N Commons   Composer,Programming
Uzoechi Emenike   Composer
Clarence Coffee, Jr.   Composer
Daniel Traynor   Composer,Programming
Martin Williams   Brass Arrangement
Adam Argyle   Composer
Paloma Faith   Composer,Engineer,Vocal Producer
Lewis Wright   Engineer
Starsmith   Producer,Drum Programming
Fin Dow-Smith   Composer
Jamie Snell   Mixing
Mark Crew   Mixing,Composer,Engineer,Producer
Serban Ghenea   Mixing
Davide Rossi   Composer
Ed Harcourt   Composer,Producer
Grades   Producer
Louie Banks   Cover Image
Jacob Portrait   Composer
Jamie McEvoy   Engineer,Vocal Producer
Zara Benyounes   Engineer,Vocal Producer