In 2022, up-and-coming Derbyshire musician Paris Paloma entered a professional studio for the first time and recorded 'Labour', a long, theatrical statement about the conflicting expectations women have in heterosexual relationships. In a clip that went viral on TikTok, frustration with gender roles simmers: “All day, every day/Healer, mother, maid/Nymph then virgin/Nurse then maid.” Paloma's full-length debut, Jarbears the fruits of the “Labour” years, expanding on that song's feminist themes through lush alt-pop and endless vocal layering. In nearly every interview, Paloma names Florence and the Machine and Hozier as formative influences. add an album structure loosely inspired by the hero's journey and Jar sounds too ambitious to pull off. But with a surprising depth of writing and production, the album often achieves its lofty goals.
Paloma and producer Justin Glasco were already at work long before “Labor” exploded, and from the opening track, it's clear that this record wasn't made with TikTok metrics in mind. “My Mind (Now)” begins with an almost unintelligible a capella verse before Paloma gasps for air and all hell breaks loose: chiptune synths, menacing synth bass and dramatic Paul Frith trumpet fanfare. Paloma's formidable voice, controlled yet expressive, is the calm in the storm. The rest Jar it's not quite as cacophonous, but even the quieter tracks are packed with thick vocal production—the self-produced backing vocals on Paloma's “Pleaser” and the formant-shifted counterpoint on “Bones on the Beach” add to the sense of restless restlessness.
While not the first person to tackle this topic, Paloma roots it in earthy images and personal anecdotes. Highlight “Boys, Bugs, and Men” traces the logical conclusion of the “boys will be boys” apology from small children squishing bugs to grown men who commit violence with impunity: “I see hunger/I'm looking for a sign/That some of the destruction it made me suffer inside/It fills you with light/To take what's mine'. In “Last Woman on Earth,” the record's darkest point, Paloma fears that even death won't release. Referring to Hugh Hefner being buried next to Marilyn Monroe, she asks that her body be fed to animals – a morbid but understandable request in the year of the man or bear debate. “His Land” is the one time it breaks through: on top of 90s new age piano and schmaltzy strings, padded lines like “The lake that he gatekeeps/Yet I know not what for” end up in a mishmash of contemporary and outdated pension.
In the righteous anger, Paloma finds room for lighter moments. She's unexpectedly hilarious on “Drywall” as she inverts the stereotype of the overly emotional woman into a fickle man who punches holes in the walls (“Eggshell temperament/No emotional regulation/Hysterical baby”). Two tracks before 'Last Woman on Earth', 'Triassic Love Song' is an unexpectedly sweet paleontological ballad about the Triassic Cuddle, a prehistoric fossil in which a proto-mammal and an amphibian are entwined. Even “Boys, Bugs, and Men” disguises its social commentary as cool pop. The battle of light and darkness reaches its apotheosis in “Bones on the Beach”, concluding with the record's simplest and most powerful line: “Death will not bring what you think it will.”
