Saturday review: Fall to Grace - Paloma Faith

I often say that I was born a century too late. People say the corsets were excruciatingly painful, and yet, I honestly cannot think of anything better than being able to prance around in beautiful long dresses every day, attending ballroom dances with only the worry of finding an appropriate suitor. Of course, I’m probably humoring myself. I’m sure it wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine. A girl can dream though, can’t she?

In the light of this, I would like to introduce Paloma Faith’s 2012 album, Fall to Grace. Yes, yes, I know the music isn’t particularly Edwardian. Nonetheless, her music and style somehow bring me back to another era. I love the rich, velvety texture of her voice and the jazzy sort of swing she has to her songs. I know she is already very popular and most you will probably have already heard of her but this album had caught my attention recently so I thought I would share.

Happy listening! X

Favourite song: Just Be

I live by the sea

I moved to the sea almost four years ago. What an adjustment from the little, middle-of-nowhere country village I had lived in previously! The main attraction was literally a Post Office run from an elderly couple’s living room. Until, that is, the husband died and it shut down. It was the most dramatic thing that had happened there in a hundred years. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they still gossiped about it now.

Anyway, coming from the most landlocked place in the whole of Britain, the shingled shores of New Zealand were definitely a blast of fresh (or should I say, salty, trolololol) air. Being the scrawny, pale-faced little thing I was back then, I was overwhelmed by the possibility of simply catching a ferry over to the next island to meet up with someone or walking bare-footed to the corner shop.

While living by the seaside isn’t always the fairytale existence one might imagine, life is definitely sweet over here. Never before would I have thought I would be able to take a stroll along the sand with my BBC podcasts or pier jump with friends in the summer. Around Christmas time the sun glistens down on the land like a giant golden babul; the Pacific Ocean a mirror of the crystalline blue sky. 

It is Winter now, however, and as the lonely Southerly wind stirs the bare tree branches and old English nostalgia in my heart I find myself seeking comfort in the words of this blog. I hope that you too will be able to do the same thing, and that you will enjoy reading my little stories and observations from the coastline.

A bientot mes amis! X

Song of the week: Seaside by the Kooks (it seemed relevant for my very first post).