Paris, je t’aime

After the promise showed on her 2008 debut, Keep It, Melbourne soul singer Paris Wells may have found all the ingredients for mainstream success with her sterling new offering, Various Small Fires. Packed with an eclectic mix of soul, R&B, electro and ska, the quality never dips as she flits between genres.

“We were determined not to do any fillers, so every song could stand alone. I wanted to make every song mean it, and I think it really shows,” the lively singer told Sydney Star Observer.

It’s the seemingly lightweight disco track Jenny that provide a rather telling insight into Wells’ own sparkling sense of humour. Jenny, Wells explained, is what she’s christened her devilish alter ego.

“She came out a lot between the ages of 22 and 25 for me, which is a bit of a ratty age for females. I was doing three or four gigs a week MCing in clubs.

“If someone didn’t want to pay me at the end of the night, I’d be backstage yelling at a promoter. You’re just there, fucking battling for your life.

“I’d be travelling around by myself between gigs, thinking ‘I can do this, I can be every woman’. But then another part of me would think, ‘If someone married me I could just stay home all day and have a nice house and some kids’.

“Nowadays, whenever I’m being a brat in the studio, (producer) Ryan (Ritchie) will be all ‘Jenny, shut the fuck up’.”

So Jenny’s your inner diva — your Sasha Fierce?

“Yeah, but a ratty, bogan, Aussie version of Sasha! I live near King St in Melbourne, and I want to make a video for the track — just go down the street one Saturday night and film a bunch of Jennys spewing on the kerb.”

It’s clear that, despite time spent between albums in the US, Wells hasn’t lost touch with her inner Aussie bogan. Travelling to America in 2009, she immersed herself in the sounds and culture of the country, from New York and New Orleans. She returned home inspired and ready to hit the studio.

“America can seem so daunting to Australian artists, but it shouldn’t be. The trip was an important lesson for my ego — to see that it’s not too scary, and that Australian artists can make a career there if they want,” she said.

Complementing Wells’ impeccable music taste is her very fine taste in men. In a recent blog post on her website, apropo of nothing in particular, Wells listed her ‘Top 10 men I would like to tap’, including gay faves James Franco and Jake Gyllenhaal. Conspicuous in their absence from the list were any Australian men, though — isn’t there any homegrown talent worth tapping?

“I would only really tap my producer, I think Ryan’s one of the hottest guys in music,” she confessed.

“He’s like a young Prince mixed with Colin Farrell. You’d dig it.”

info: Various Small Fires is out now. Paris Wells is touring throughout November and December – visit www.pariswells.com.au for details.