Various Small Fries

Paris Wells returns with a beautiful, electic and audacious sophomore album that will kick you in the balls. "I've given everything away this time. Every single emotion I could possibly have. It's an evolution of my own personal sound, no time for radio jacking," Paris Wells says about Various Small Fires. On her sophomore release, Various Small Fires, Paris explores some racy and bold territory. Her music reflects her free spirit - a notion tackled with the album, which flirts with alternative pop and electro-soul - and each song connects flawlessly through the theme/title taken from pop artist Ed Ruscha's intriguing 1964 book Various Small Fires and Milk. It's a long way from her 2008 debut Keep It, where in the same year, Paris won the International Songwriting Contest. The next year, she took out APRA's Professional Development Award. Two years on from the album's release, she now sells out national tours through little more than word of mouth, and has appeared at festivals like Big Day Out, Good Vibrations, Falls Festival and MS Fest. Not to mention her performance at the historic Sound Relief concert ewith label-mates Bliss N Eso. Various Small Fires is a daring combination of fierce electro-soul sounds with lashings of seductive beats, created by vintage instruments and modern synthesizers. "I love electronic music. My passion for electronic and beat music is equal to my passion for vintage sounds and instruments," explains Paris. "The ideas are really clear, sonically and lyrically." Paris travelled to the US in '09 and began work on the record. She visited New York, and immersed in the sounds of America's Deep South in New Orleans, Atlanta and Washington. She returned to Melbourne, built a new studio and set to work. Nothing is sugar-coated or contrived on Various Small Fires; the songs have rough edges with a gritty, real feel, but they still glow. The catchy Through And Through is softened by Paris' sensual vocals, and then there's the cheeky jazz-infused Let's Get It Started. Goldie, with it's sly references to bondage. The addictive beats of Jenny, which is about Paris' evil alter-ego, add a buoyant, fresh overlay on this quirky tune. Believe in Me is a hushed, mid-tempo track that displays Paris' engaging voice. But it's the haunting title track that Paris really connects to. "That tune for me is closest to Ruscha's work as we made it musically minimalist. What I love about Ed is he makes his art bold in the foreground so it draws you into the content in the background. I wanted my record to be like that." Very few artists hold the ability to simultaneously confront and seduce the listener. Various Small Fires is the musical equivalent of a French kiss at gunpoint.

Number of Discs: 1

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