TV Obsessive
Paloma Faith’s “Better Than This” Hits Where It Hurts
Rachel: First off, it’s mind boggling to me that Paloma Faith isn’t a massive star. I discovered her around the same time as other great soul-influenced pop divas like Amy Winehouse, Adele, Duffy, and Clare Maguire. Her style is off the charts and her catalogue is versatile, bouncing between the 1940s, 1980s and modern day pop stylings and heart wrenching ballads.
Music videos are obviously a mainstay of promoting new albums and COVID-19 has meant record companies have had to get creative this year. Some stars have done animated videos (Billie Eilish) or filmed everything on their own (Miley Cyrus) or stripped storytelling concepts way back. For Faith’s new single, “Better Than This” the sparseness works to its advantage.
The video features Faith dressed in a dark blazer and Bettie Page hairstyle amid a wall of television screens showing all manner of atrocities that the human race has done to itself. The flickering technicolor of the TV screens is the only albeit artificial light, giving the video a 1984-ish feel. Considering many of her videos have been full of vivid colors and dazzling visuals (her latest “Gold” is a return to form), this shift in approach packs a real punch. The lyrics reflect the frustrations of being pushed and pulled too far this year:
“When the riddles and the puzzles find me
I wanna let the darkness hide me
But I know there is better than this
And I’m shouting ’cause I see my failings
My fears, my faults, I’m raging
‘Cause I know that I’m better than this”
The piano-based ballad swells with hope but Faith’s bitter-tinged vocals show us the darkness underneath, ending with the not-so-simple solution:
“Only when we discover that’s when we find each other
That’s when we both get better than this”
Those are our recommendations this week! What are yours? Let us know in the comments! (And be sure to head over and check out what We’re Just Playing!)
