Giveaway Alert: Paloma Faith – Fall To Grace

Paloma Faith – a name even the most CASUAL reader of Music Is My King Size Bed should know by now.  As you probably know, Paloma released her sophomore album, Fall To Grace in America on December 4th through her U.S. label, Epic Records.  To commemorate the album’s release I have been afforded the opportunity to give away 5 copies to give away to U.S. fans of the feisty outspoken red headed chanteuse.  TO ENTER, please do one of the following:

That’s it! 5 lucky U.S.-based winners will win a free copy of Fall To Grace.  Easy, right?  Just in time for Christmas!

Fall To Grace is the follow up to Faith’s debut album, Do You Want The Truth or Something Beautiful, which is only available digitally in the U.S. (iTunes).  The new album was produced by Nelle Hooper (Madonna, Massive Attack, Bjork) and Jake Gosling (Ed Sheeran).  Prior to the album’s U.S. release earlier this month, I was blessed with the opportunity to see Paloma sing live for the SECOND time (see my Joe’s Pub review from September).  Paloma played two sold out shows at the end of November, the first at Mercury Lounge (see The Village Voice review) in Manhattan, the second at The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn.  I was nervous all week that the show wasn’t going to happen at all, given how Faith was Tweeting about coming down with some sort of sickness. Luckily, she made it and played a flawless set.  Starting out strong with first single, “Picking Up The Pieces,” Faith kept her energy up throughout the evening, turning out stunner after stunner, including her INXS cover, “Never Tear Us Apart” which she didn’t get to play at Joe’s Pub.

The best moment for me came after the show.  Myself, and a couple of other stragglers were lingering outside the venue for a good 45 minutes to an hour, waiting for Paloma to emerge and slip away to DJ at The Boom Boom Room in Manhattan.  Sure enough, Faith emerged, enveloped in a faux fur wrap and flanked by one security guard from the club, her lovely manager Innis Ferguson and her band.  A couple of the more brazen fans approached Faith and proceeded to gush and have her sign things and take pictures.  As luck would have it, my iPhone battery had died minutes before so I almost didn’t even go up to her.  Luckily, my fellow fans pushed me up in front of her so I had no choice but to introduce myself.

Incredibly shy and awkward, especially when it comes to celebrity encounters, I stuttered around my name, eventually just referencing my Twitter handle.  As soon as I told her who I was, her eyes lit up and she brought me in for a hug.  Grabbing my hands, she personally thanked me for all of my support, telling me that even her “Mum” knew who I was based on my incessant postings.  Incredibly gracious, she posed for a picture that one of my fellow fans generously took and sent me later that evening.  The perfect end to an already perfect night.

Following Paloma’s performances in New York, a massive U.S. television promo tour began, first with a performance on The Today Show, where Paloma performed two songs, “Picking Up The Pieces” and “Just Be.”  Paloma later appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, dazzling audiences with a performance of “Picking Up The Pieces.”  Then it was off to Los Angeles, where Ms. Faith performed her debut single on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.  Paloma also stopped by Billboard Magazine, Access Hollywood Live (check her singing here!), VEVO (where she was honored as a VEVO LIFT artist), VH1 Big Morning Buzz, Steve Madden (where she was their Spotlight Artist), NPR, Perez Hilton, and several publications for interviews and live sessions. 

 Faith also had the incredible honor of being added at the last minute to the VH1 Divas Live lineup, where she appeared on the red carpet pre-show and performed “Picking Up The Pieces” with a nice introduction from her U.S. label boss and U.S. X-Factor judge L.A. Reid.

Following it’s release, Fall To Grace debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at #170.  The album also managed to come in at #2 on Billboard‘s Top Heatseekers chart.  A far cry from the #2 debut Fall To Grace saw in Faith’s native UK, you have to remember that she was already an established artist there.  Here in America, I think a #170 debut is pretty impressive for a completely unknown artist.  Elsewhere on the Billboard charts, Paloma’s debut single, “Picking Up The Pieces” has proved itself to be a Top 10 dance hit, peaking at #10 on Billboard‘s Hot Dance Club Play chart.  Speaking of remixes, Paloma just announced the winners of her “Picking Up The Pieces” fan remix contest.  The winning remixes are up on Spotify now!  While she has a MASSIVE UK tour planned for the New Year, Faith has indicated that she’d like to make her career here in the U.S. a priority, even hinting at a possible move to the states.  An international career has to be nurtured along. Not every artist can become an instantaneous international success.  I truly believe Faith has the goods to go far here, it’s just going to take time.

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway for a chance to win 1 of 5 copies of Fall To Grace (U.S. residents only).  Also, check out my Fall To Grace review that I wrote back when the album was released in Britain.  Check out a list of tour dates for Paloma’s upcoming UK tour which begins January 20th in Belfast.  Paloma will also be playing at the O2 Arena in London in June and at the T In The Park festival in July.  Faith’s new UK single “Just Be” is out now (iTunes). Oh! And as a special holiday treat before Christmas, watch Paloma Faith and the band singing “Santa Baby” as part of VH1‘s “12 Holidaze.”

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