CityLife

IF anyone has ‘it’, Paloma does. ‘It’ is the ability to connect to an audience. ‘It’ is being down to earth and yet completely mesmerising. ‘It’ is being adored by girls at the same time as being lusted after by their boyfriends.<br /> <br /> Paloma’s vision and talent for stage craft is both fun and playful and matches her endearing child-like character and style.<br /> <br /> Her fiery red hair, rouge lips and dramatic eye make-up is Paloma’s trademark look. Sporting one of those all-in-one jump suits that only few can carry off, Paloma looks stunning and owns the stage in Manchester’s simple but swanky underground club, The Ruby Lounge.<br /> <br /> The stage is set up with over-sized dominoes, doll’s chairs and pink balloons and has the distinct feel of a cross between a fairground and a dolls house.<br /> <br /> When asked how she would describe herself in three words she says “funny, existential and self-doubting” but she has an air of confidence and self-assurance about her, as well as exuding eccentricity and style.<br /> <br /> Her band is equally full of character; from Seye Adelekan. the guitarist who gyrates as he plays with his tongue lolling cheekily from his mouth, to Sam Agard (drummer) who plays the perfect drumming monkey in Paloma’s song Broken Doll, Andrea Goldsworthy (bass) with that sultry vampy look while Dom Pipkin is the charmingly expressive keyboardist and Baby Sol (backing singer) owns a strong diva-esque charm.<br /> <br /> This sound is a mix of genres and all the better to not be pigeon-holed. The wide range of styles of genre that Paloma explores in her music varies from jazz, to pop to a hint of rock, bubbling up into an electrifying style that is very much her own.<br /> <br /> When I asked her what her goals were for the future she replied that she wants to “leave a body of work behind and impact the creative industry.”<br /> <br /> Her eagerness to contribute to creativity is unmistakable as she enjoys visiting galleries, watching films, visiting fairgrounds and circuses all for musical inspiration.<br /> <br /> “I’m like a sponge,” she says, “I get ideas from everywhere, even listening to other people’s conversations.”<br /> <br /> As a young girl she aspired to be a dancer and trained for many years from the age of four, but found dancing school was a little too much like ‘boot camp’ and put her focus into theatre and music.<br /> <br /> “I get compared to other musicians all the time like Amy Winehouse and Edif Piaf but that’s great because I admire them as creative musicians so it’s a compliment to me.”<br /> <br /> Her new album “Do you want the truth or something beautiful?” is out on September 28. ‘I’m nervous and scared. It’ll be out there for the world to make their judgments. The album has been five years in the making and I’m really excited!”<br /> <br /> Singing her well known songs ‘New York’, and ‘Stone Cold Sober’ she encouraged the crowd to sing along and groove to the sounds of some new tracks. Paloma’s group of committed followers have seen her jump up to No.9 in the iTunes charts - and still climbing.<br /> <br /> So many creative elements are put into play in her gigs, from the band, to the stage set to Paloma’s effortless rapport with her fans, everything working together beautifully.<br /> <br /> ‘It’ can’t be learnt but Paloma has ‘it’ very, very naturally.<br />