FEATURE: Spotlight: Fabiana Palladino

FEATURE:

Spotlight

Fabiana Palladino

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WITH her eponymous…

debut album now out in the world tomorrow (5th April), there is new attention and focus on Fabiana Palladino. The London-based artist is an exceptional talent that everyone should know. Do go and get her album. I will come to some spotlighting and attention around the amazing Fabiana Palladino. I will also include some biography. First, Rough Trade provide some details about an extraordinary album:

“Fabiana Palladino releases her hotly anticipated self-titled debut album. The UK vocalist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer releases Fabiana Palladino via Paul Institute / XL Recordings.

Made in the wake of the end of a long relationship, the album is an intimate record that sees Fabiana Palladino confront complex questions about love, loneliness and normativity in relationships. The result is a 10-track full-length of shapeshifting sonics that draws inspiration from the big R&B, Soul, Pop and Disco studio productions of the 80s and 90s and filters them through a modern lens. Written and self-produced by Palladino, the album features performances from renowned musicians and close friends including Paul Institute co-founder Jai Paul, her father and legendary session bassist Pino Palladino, brother and Yussef Dayes bassist Rocco Palladino, renowned drummer Steve Ferrone and strings from Rob Moose.

Speaking on the new music and album, Fabiana Palladino says:

“A central theme of the album is aloneness. Whether it’s a song where I’m searching for connection with someone else, or trying to embrace the aloneness, it tends to come back to me, who I am when I’m alone, what I feel when I really look inwards. I’d say it’s a pretty introspective record overall. The songs are often about trying to go deeper into yourself, exploring your true feelings and how they then relate to and affect your relationships with others.

ARTWORK CREDIT: Nicola Delorme

“Stay With Me Through The Night” is the first song I wrote for the album. It was at the end of a tricky period where I hadn’t written music for nearly two years, and it came out in a bit of a flood, I barely even remember where or how I wrote it, but I knew it was going to be an important song for me. It ended up being the centrepiece of the album, a song that encapsulates a lot of the feeling and emotion of the rest of the record and musically it brings old together with new, which became a theme across the record…a way of combining my influences with a modern perspective.

Rhythmically the feeling of the song comes from funk and disco, I was thinking about the piano playing of Patrice Rushen and Michael McDonald, Chaka Khan’s ‘What Cha’ Gonna Do For Me’, Bernard Edwards bass playing on Chic’s ‘Good Times’, and The Bee Gees ‘Spirits Having Flown’ but we tried to take the track somewhere else in other aspects of the production to bring out the big feelings in the song. It situates us in the emotional world that I tried to create for the rest of the album.”

Fabiana Palladino first broke out in 2017 as one of Paul Institute’s founding artists after her shadowy R&B-influenced spectral pop reached Jai Paul, who founded the label alongside his brother A.K. Paul. Releasing three singles in four years, she caught the ear of critics - Pitchfork likened “Mystery” to “a scratch track from a big-budget 80s studio that’s been smuggled out on reel-to-reel tape” – but Palladino’s output remained slight. The intervening years have seen her working as an in-demand session musician for the likes of Jessie Ware, Sampha, SBTRKT and Laura Groves while intensely striving for pop perfection in her own music. Last year, she formed part of Jai Paul’s band for his live debut (which she also supported solo) on his hugely celebrated comeback tour”.

I am keen to explore Fabiana Palladino more. She is an artist that may not be known to everyone, though I feel that she will be very soon. One of our most remarkable songwriters'. A truly distinct voice. Emerged Agency give us some more background on one of my favourite rising artists. This is someone that I am very excited about in terms of how far she will go in the industry:

“For more or less a brand-new artist, Fabiana Palladino faces an unusual level of anticipation. The London musician broke out in 2017 as one of the Paul Institute’s founding artists after her shadowy, classicist R&B influenced pop reached Jai Paul, who started the label alongside his brother A. K. Paul. Releasing just three singles in four years, she caught the ear of critics – Pitchfork likened “Mystery” to “a scratch track from a big-budget 80s studio that’s been smuggled out on reel-to-reel tape” – but Palladino’s output remained slight while she worked as an in-demand session musician for the likes of SBTRKT and Jessie Ware, cycling from one tour to the next. This year, she formed part of Jai’s band for his live debut (which she also supported), the most wildly awaited performances in years. “I’m taking it one bit at a time because it is very strange and a bit overwhelming,” says Palladino.

All the while, she was intensively working on her self-titled debut album - Fabiana Palladino - in secret. Written and produced by Palladino, it has been a long time coming, partially because of her playing commitments but also because of her perfectionism. “I have a horrible fear of putting something out and regretting it,” she admits. Covid slowed things too, amplifying the sense of loneliness and isolation that runs through the album, in which she confronts how a life should look in the absence of traditional relationship and family structures. Made in the wake of the end of a long relationship, it’s an intimate, after-dark record that exudes the toughness and femininity of Janet Jackson circa Control and Annie Lennox on DIVA, exerts the classic songwriting of Kate Bush and Joni Mitchell and subverts the classic romantic Motown duets of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell to unpick normativity in relationships.

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Palladino’s references are all big studio records, a sound that she strove for while self-recording at home and in the XL studio. “I wanted to push myself production-wise,” she says. “I wanted high-production value sounds because I grew up listening to music that was made in studios, played by great musicians and recorded by brilliant engineers, and I really appreciate that.” This sleek, distinctive record is testament to her growing confidence as a producer, encouraged, says Palladino, by Jai. Early on, she would send him demos and ask him to produce them. “He would say, ‘You’ve already produced it – it’s there.’ Palladino’s dad, Pino Palladino, is one of history’s most famous session men: she learned from him the integrity it takes to work on other people’s ideas, and gradually understood how to apply it to her own work. “I like creating other people’s vision, being solid and consistent,” she says. “Being an artist is a totally different headspace.”

It’s one that Palladino seems to conjure effortlessly. The self-titled album feels like a classic pop album: its nimble melodies haunting and sensual, the writing elegantly whittled down to turn complex questions about desire and satisfaction into immediate hooks. “I’m getting closer / Still it’s on my mind / What we’re all about / ‘Cos I don’t even know if I want you around,” she sings on the “Closer”, which gasps and glints as two would-be lovers dance around a grey area. “When I go to sleep I’m tired but I can’t dream any more,” she sings on “I Can’t Dream Anymore”, thrust forward by heaving bass that resonates with exhaustion and frustration at the uncertainty. “I had a significant relationship that ended followed by a period of a few years of like: what the hell am I doing?” she says. “People are getting married and having kids around you, and I was not in that at all. There’s a certain amount of pain in having to accept that that’s not the way it’s gone. But also: how can I embrace that and create power for myself? I feel amazing about it now, and so happy that my life has gone in that way.”

Fabiana Palladino underscores that push and pull. “The songwriting is relatively traditional,” says Palladino, “but the production isn’t. It’s trying to disrupt certain expectations.” Palladino’s pop career is finally taking flight but that doesn’t mean the anticipation is over”.

There are a couple of interview that I am going to bring in before closing and rounding things up. NOTION featured Fabiana Palladino early last month. Among other things, she discussed stepping out from the shadows of others, and words of wisdom with Jessie Ware. Everything I read about Palladino makes me feel that she will be releasing music for many years to come. A very special talent:

“Fabiana Palladino is a perfectionist. Since releasing her debut single, ‘Mystery’, through the Paul Institute in November 2017, the singer-songwriter from London has remained a compelling enigma. Two tracks came in the three years afterwards, ’Shimmer’ and then ‘Waiting’, before the elusive Jai Paul and his brother AK signed her to the label for a full-length album. Agonising over the intricacies of a 10 track project, the Robyn-approved artist feared putting out a body of work that felt incomplete; she found the process challenging at times, balancing her high standards with the realities of recording a debut.

From what we’ve heard so far, Fabiana Palladino has been worth the wait. ‘I Care’ emphatically introduced us to the record’s retrofuturism, which takes R&B classicisms and morphs them into something inherently their own. Of course, Jai is on hand to provide a steely feature, crooning in mumbled tones to complement Fabiana’s plaintive pleas. “What do I have to do to make you care?”, she questions on the hook, ruing the emotions of a non-committal lover. Released earlier this year, the follow-up single, ‘Stay With Me Through The Night’ is comparably upbeat, as disco funk grooves and toe-tapping drums, from Chaka Khan collaborator Steve Ferrone, take centre stage. Yet still, the lyrics mourn a romance gone wrong.

Loneliness and isolation are key themes across the project. Made after ending a long-term relationship and written during COVID lockdowns, despite the album’s wealth of contributors, composing it was predominantly a solitary experience. Having worked as a session musician, recording with the likes of SBTRKT, Sampha and Jessie Ware, stepping out into the spotlight as an artist in her own right is something Fabiana is finding hard to grapple with. Last month, she played two debut headline shows – one in London and one in Paris. For someone who’s previously remained in the shadows of others, the performances left her feeling exposed. Nevertheless, with Fabiana Palladino nearing its release, and more tour dates planned later this year, she’ll have to get used to the attention.

Talk to us about Fabiana Palladino, the self-titled debut you have coming out in April on Paul Institute / XL Recordings. Why was now the right time to release it? In an interview from 2018 you spoke about a forthcoming EP, was that scrapped or is this its more fleshed-out incarnation?

So that EP was pretty much finished by early 2020 but around that time I signed an album deal with XL / Paul Institute and decided I wanted to expand the EP into an album instead. It then took me three more years to finish the album, which was definitely not the plan – I hoped to finish it within a year but I’m quite slow, also a perfectionist, and there were various setbacks due to Covid and just general life stuff getting in the way. All that said, this really feels like the right time to release this album, it’s been a very long time coming but I feel good about the timing of it and ready to share it with everyone.

What was your proudest moment while making the record? Did anything surprise you about the creative process?

Honestly, I’m not sure I ever felt proud during the making of the record, I’m pretty hard on myself and found the process really difficult at times – I was questioning whether it was good enough pretty much all the time. I drove myself pretty nuts. Looking back though I guess I’m proud of persevering through my own neurosis and actually managing to finish it? There were some very special moments during the making of it though and I never stop being amazed and surprised by the way a song can expand from a tiny seed of an idea into a really meaningful thing, especially with the help of the collaborators I’ve worked with. So I feel really proud of what we created together.

Jai Paul features across the project, someone that you’ve worked closely with for many years now. Why do you think your sounds complement each other so well? And how do you think he elevates your work?

It’s a combination of things – partly that we have a lot of shared influences and reference points, but also that we have quite different approaches to making music that seem to complement each other somehow. I’m pretty traditional and Jai is a bit more free thinking. It’s an instinctive thing when we work together, we don’t really discuss much, there’s an unspoken understanding of what will work / not work that makes it a really natural process. Jai elevates my work beyond what I ever really could have imagined – he really is a visionary producer and has an originality that is so exciting to me.

What do you hope that people take away from the project

I hope people find ideas and feelings that they can relate to in the music. Although I worked with collaborators on the album and their contributions are super important, it was a mostly a solitary experience making it – both physically as I made a big chunk of it during lockdowns, but also emotionally – I felt quite alone at times, not necessarily in a negative way, but I was exploring the reasons for that in the music and lyrics, trying to make something that people can connect to and maybe make them feel less alone, to feel seen and heard. All my favourite music does that for me.

‘Stay With Me Through The Night’ is such a jam, but there’s definitely a plaintiveness to it. How did the single come about and how do you think it represents Fabiana Palladino as a whole?

Thank you! It’s actually the only song that made the cut from the EP. The original demo was a bit more plaintive feeling, but when it came to making the album version we just felt like it needed try and make it a straight fire groove. My dad put some bass on the original demo, which had electronic drums that Jai had programmed (some of which are still in there) but then he had the idea to ask Steve Ferrone to play live drums on it and it took the song to a whole new level. Steve played on my one of my favourite records ever which is What Cha Gonna Do For Me? by Chaka Khan. Rhythmically it’s got that old school feeling which is very much up my street but we tried to keep some sort of modernity with the production. I think it represents me because lyrically it’s vulnerable and direct, but the music is uplifting (I hope) ’cause in the end I just wanna make people feel happy and dance. It’s also got that balance of retro and modern which I love to explore.

The track comes alongside your debut music video. How did it feel putting yourself out there like that? It’s beautifully shot…

Yeah it was nerve racking for sure but I felt very supported by the team of people who worked on it who were so encouraging of my initial vague idea and developed it into something really great. I’m still trying to get my head around how I feel about putting myself out there like this. On one hand I’m self-conscious about it but on the other hand I am really enjoying this side of things, getting to create art in a new way and show different sides of myself and the music is super exciting.

Many of these artists you first connected with on MySpace. The social media site is often cited by people for its collaborative and creative forces. What do you think music today could take away from that era?

Yeah MySpace was important for a lot of us! I liked that it was super fun and creative and didn’t take itself too seriously. It didn’t feel like a ‘professional’ platform for artists, in that it wasn’t really trying to sell music or gain any sort of streaming numbers, as far as I remember. It really did feel like it was more about just sharing music and making genuine connections with people you often ended up actually meeting and collaborating with, with no real agenda, just the possibility of creating together.

What’s next for Fabiana Palladino? With this debut album around the corner, is there anything else that you’re looking to achieve in 2024?

The main thing will be performing the album live over the next few months, as well as putting out the next few singles and the visuals we’ve made for them. Aside from that I’ll be playing a few more shows with Jai which will be fun. I’m looking forward to getting back to writing with a friend who I was working with last year, as well as writing my second album which I’m thinking about a lot… My aim for this year is to just create as much work as possible”

I am going to move on to a feature from CRACK It is amazing that, in 2014, Fabiana Palladino opened her inbox and found an unexpected email. When she read the message – a request to collaborate from the elusive and revered Jai Paul – she naturally assumed it was a prank. Since then, Palladino has really made her mark on music and collaborated with some incredible artists:

“Her childhood was soundtracked by her parents’ soul and Motown records, and she’s grateful for this informal early education by Aretha Franklin and Donny Hathaway. But it was the music on the radio that captured her attention. “I mean, I was very uncool in terms of current music,” she says, perhaps a little too earnestly. “I was into pop music, whatever was mainstream, like Craig David and Spice Girls.”

That interest in pop and R&B laid the foundations for her own material, which is built around traditional song structures and a silky falsetto, and polished off with sleek yet subtly experimental production. She’s still drawn to the superstars of those genres, most notably Kate Bush, Brandy and Janet Jackson. “I always loved everything Janet represents,” Palladino explains, wide-eyed. “She is obviously super feminine sometimes, but that 80s period was so androgynous and, musically, the production is quite hard. That feeling of strength about her was interesting and exciting to me.”

While at university, Palladino started to pursue music-making, but only tentatively. She remembers feeling nervous as coursemates began to clock on to who her dad – famous for his work with The Who, Gary Numan and D’Angelo – was. “I remember suddenly feeling very aware that people knew and then had an idea of me,” she explains. “I used to have an idea that if my dad played on anything [I wrote] people would just see me as what you now call a ‘nepo baby’.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Hannah Cosgrove

It would be easy to feel sorry for Palladino at this point. She’s sweet, self-aware, and extremely talented; it must be frustrating to live in the shadow of a (male) relative. But at the same time, nepotism is deeply entrenched within British music and arts. So I remember the instruments hanging around the house, the studio visits, the industry family friends. A week later, when I ask how she feels about her advantaged position, she explains further. “There are many ways in which having musician parents has benefitted me, [such as] instruments and recording equipment. In a practical sense, it was easy for me to explore music, and I know for most people that is definitely not the case,” she admits. “I can acknowledge the leg up I had and still be able to feel like what I do is valid and worthy on its own terms.”

It was around 2007 when Palladino started uploading her early demos to MySpace. Though it didn’t stir up much interest at the time, she says, it’s where she connected with like-minded artists such as Ghostpoet and Sampha, who she collaborated with for the former’s Survive It (2011) and her own, since-deleted track, For You (2014). Soon after, she began working as a session musician for some of London’s most talked about indie and electronic acts: SBTRKT, The Maccabees and Jessie Ware.

Between tours, Palladino would fervently write her own music. “I’d come back and be like, ‘Right, I’ve got a week.’ I’d just be locked in my bedroom making songs,” she tells me. One such song was Shimmer, a sparkling synth-pop ballad she would later tidy up and release officially in 2018. It was an important period for Palladino and she looks back on the time fondly, but after several years, she found that session work was no longer creatively satisfying. She enjoyed supporting artists she loved but lacked the time to focus on her own projects. “I could’ve carried on making individual tracks, but there’s no way I would’ve had the time or focus to make an album,” she adds.

This idea of self-progression and being at ease with yourself resonates with Palladino’s own story. Now, aged 36, she finally feels ready to release her first full-length project. The album was written after the breakdown of a significant relationship in 2019, which forced her to move back in with her parents in the suburbs and confront life’s big questions all over again. “I thought, ‘Wow, how did this happen? I’m in my early thirties and single again, and what does that mean for me?’” she recalls, more quietly now. With people around her getting married and having children “left, right and centre”, she began to ask herself, ‘How can I take ownership of that and for it not to be this sad, tragic thing? Do I want that traditional life or not? And if I don’t, what does that look like?’

PHOTO CREDIT: Hannah Cosgrove

Palladino navigates these questions of loneliness and independence throughout her self-titled album. The lyrics are frank and unabashed, like on the low-lit groover Stay with Me Through the Night, in which Palladino confesses that she “never could make up ‘cos I’m bad at admitting that I’m wrong”, and pleads for “one more try”. She finds strength in being direct, she says: “I didn’t want to obscure anything. Yeah, I feel very vulnerable, but I chose to be.”

Fabiana Palladino is her most ambitious sounding release yet, drawing on the production techniques of big studio projects she has long admired to embellish her earlier, more DIY approach. With its tight, syncopated drums and steely attitude, Can You Look in the Mirror? nods to early 2000s releases by Darkchild and Rich Harrison, while the spectral slowburner I Care (featuring Jai Paul) has a cinematic sheen. “When you look back at the budgets and time these people had, you know, we had very little of that,” Palladino smiles. “It was almost a challenge of, how shiny can I make it sound?”

Taking her time to build up to the album is something Palladino is grateful for. But it’s taken a long time to reach this state of mind; though there are traces of her all over the music world, from her session appearances to recording credits in liner notes, for years she was concerned that the lapses between her releases would make her look unproductive, or unsuccessful.

"It's so much cooler to be an overnight success, isn't it? But the fact of the matter is, for some artists, it just takes ages to get to the stage where they're able to make a record"

PHOTO CREDIT: Hannah Cosgrove

“There’s so much focus on your digital footprint, how it looks when people scroll through your Instagram or releases,” Palladino says, sighing. “I have these long gaps where I was off on tour, doing other things or just distracted,” she shrugs. “It’s so much cooler to be an overnight success, isn’t it? Or just to be the person of the moment. But the fact of the matter is, for some artists, it just takes ages to get to the stage where they’re able to make a record.”

She also worried that she’d missed the boat altogether. As we finish eating, she recalls an interaction with an industry figure who said he would never sign an artist over the age of 25. Palladino was 20 years old at the time and the comment stuck. “I had that in my head for years. Years,” she emphasises, pulling on her sleeves.

It’s part of a wider culture of ageism and misogyny in the music business, Palladino acknowledges now. “I bought into it because it’s just so insidious,” she says, frankly. “But now there’s Jessie, Kylie, Robyn – people who are older than me. I’d be delighted to be making that kind of music. Why is there a limit on age? It makes zero sense.” She’s still figuring it all out, Palladino admits earnestly, but she’s finally learning to enjoy the process: “It’ll only get better, I think”.

Out tomorrow, Fabiana Palladino’s eponymous debut album is going to make a big impression. I think it is going to be among the most important debut albums of the year. She is a spellbinding artist that people unaware need to connect with as soon as possible. You need to listen to what she is putting out. We have in our midst…