Polly Paulusma
b. 10 November 1976, Cambridgeshire, England. The daughter of a Cambridge, England university professor and an accomplished portrait artist, Paulusma was hailed by critics as an intelligent singer-songwriter in the vein of Joni Mitchell and Suzanne Vega when her debut album appeared in 2004. After the huge success of posthumous releases by Eva Cassidy in the late 90s, a particular brand of easy listening, soul and jazz-inflected folk found favour with a strand of the UK record buying public. Although Scissors In My Pocket sold modestly and predominantly nodded towards folk and soul, rather than jazz, it was clear that Paulusma had been marketed in order to appeal to those who had invested in the success of Norah Jones and Katie Melua. In comparison to the other artists on their roster, such as Bjrk and Dan Sartain whose general output was of a maverick and experimental nature, Paulusma was a surprisingly MOR signing for One Little Indian Records. She openly cited Nick Drake, another former student of Cambridge, as a strong influence on the sound that formed her debut. This was particularly evident on "I Was Made To Love You", which had a chord sequence and rhythm that recalled Drake's "At The Chime Of A City Clock". Indeed, the double bass playing of Oli Hayhurst, along with the strings provided by the Elysian Quartet across five of the tracks, were reminiscent of Robert Kirby's arrangements for Drake's 1970 cornerstone Bryter Layter. However, her melismatic vocal delivery was in stark contrast to Drake's open and fragile tone, and other modern singer-songwriters such as Kathryn Williams made better use of this template.
Listen to Polly Paulusma
at Finetune.
Albums
- (2007) Scissors in My Pocket
- (2007) Fingers & Thumbs
Top Tracks
- Anywhere From Here
- Dark Side
- Carry Me Home
- I Was Made To Love You
- Fingers And Thumbs
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