Paloma Faith has opened up about her “pretty personal” new single about her separation from husband Leyman Lahcine - adding it is “weird” seeing her daughters sing and dance along to the track “without grasping what it is about”.
The London star, 42, separated from the French artist in the past 12 months - with the singer confirming on Instagram this summer she was now a single parent.
The pair share two daughters - one born in late 2016 and another in early 2021 - whose names have never been made public.
Faith today releases her latest single How You Leave A Man - the first track from her upcoming sixth studio album.
Speaking to the Standard, Faith said the track - and the upcoming album - was “pretty personal”, adding she was “nervous” to be putting her private life out into public.
She added that her daughters love the track - but admitted it was a little strange watching them dance and sing along to it without really understanding what it was about.
Faith said: “I am excited and nervous, because it is - as you can hear by the title - pretty personal. Especially with two children. [Making music] is always personal, it just so happens that this happens to be probably one of the most life-changing moments of my life. I guess I have no choice.”
The Brit Award-winning artist continued: “It is weird, watching your kids dancing around to a song without grasping what it is about. I’m like.. ‘Oh my god.’ I am nervous, but I am also quite proud of it. I can’t say I won’t erupt into tears in every interview…”
As well as music, Faith has ventured into the acting world - recently playing a villainess in television series Pennyworth, a Batman prequel.
However, on the eve of releasing her new music, the star said singing was her true passion.
“I feel like music is my fuel,” she said. “Standing on a stage in front of people. That is like, that’s the thing. I feel lost when I don’t do it. It is a sort of maddening addiction.”
Faith was speaking around her partnership with LEGO and the toy brand’s World Play Day initiative. To mark the day on October 12, LEGO is encouraging families to prioritize play as research found one in three children around the world are spending less time playing every week week than most adults spend scrolling on their smartphones per day.
Faith said spending time playing with her daughters was incredibly important to her.
“Playing is all young children want to do. Growing up not coming from not a particularly wealthy background, as a kid I felt like lots of things weren’t available to me. But my mum used to say: ‘We can!’ and we’d make it all up.
“It cultivated an idea in me that anything was possible in my imagination. And it was bonding between us. And that is so important, for children and their parents to play. It encourages independence, imagination and belief in that anything is possible.”
She added: “One of the reasons I am imaginative and creative - it is one of the things that encouraged self belief for me.”
