
Various Small Fires – Paris Wells
Aussie soul singer Paris Wells’ sophomore album is a big step up from her 2008 debut, Keep It, great though that album was. For an artist who made her name with ribald funk tracks like Dat Du Dat, proceedings start softly with the lush, softly sung title track. Wells’ cheeky sense of fun soon rears its head, with the scattershot ska of Let’s Get It Started and the skipping-rope disco of Jenny, dedicated to Paris’ own diva alter ego. And on single Through and Through she may just have struck upon her first commercial hit.