Upside Down (Paloma Faith song)

"Upside Down"
Single by Paloma Faith
from the album Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?
B-side"Technicolour"
Released15 March 2010
Recorded2009
Genre
Length3:11
LabelEpic Records
Songwriter(s)
  • Paloma Faith
  • Andrew Nicholas Love
  • Jos Hartvig Jorgensen
  • Belle Sara Humble
Producer(s)Andy Love and Jos Jorgensen
Paloma Faith singles chronology
""Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?""
(2009) 		"Upside Down"
(2010) 		"Keep Moving"
(2010)
Music video
"Upside Down" on YouTube

"Upside Down" is a song by English recording artist Paloma Faith from her debut studio album, Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful? (2009). It was released in the United Kingdom on 15 March 2010, by Epic Records as the fourth single from the album. "Upside Down" was written by Faith, Andrew Nicholas Love, Jos Hartvig Jorgensen and Belle Sara Humble, and it was produced by Love and Jorgensen. The song received mixed reviews from critics. "Upside Down" reached a peak position of fifty-five in the UK chart. The music video was directed by Chris Sweeney, who previously directed the video for Faith's third single, "Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?".

Background

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Faith performed the song on Simon Mayo's BBC Radio 2 show on 18 January 2010 and became Scott Mills' 'Record of the Week' on BBC Radio 1.[1][2] "Upside Down" was released by Epic Records on 15 March 2010.[3] The song was accompanied by the B-side "Technicolour".[4]

Reception

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Critical response

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Before the single was released, Mayer Nissim from Digital Spy said ""Upside Down" backs up Faith's claim to have absorbed influences from the pre-rock 'n' roll era, mixing up a '50s dancehall vibe with her ever-present soul croon.".[5] Charles Decant of Ozap called the single "the more playful title on the album".[6]

Paul English of the Daily Record gave the single four stars.[7] He commented "If they remade Roger Rabbit, Paloma would be Jessica and this would be on the soundtrack. A post-Winehouse jive-time workout, this perky number from the Burlesque-influenced Londoner is begging to be danced to by men with trilby hats and spats. The dominant Faith continues..."[7]

A reporter for the Huddersfield Daily Examiner was less positive towards the song saying "Sets off like some surreal nursery rhyme and never seems to mature that much."[8] While a writer from the Liverpool Echo deemed it one of the worst releases of the week, saying "what it lacks in complexity, lyrics and any real meaning it makes up for in catchiness."[9]

Chart performance

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On 14 March 2010, "Upside Down" debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number 89, on downloads alone. The following week, the single climbed to number 58, which was followed by a further climb of 3 places on 28 March 2010 to its current peak at number 55. The song spent two weeks in the chart.[10] On 26 December, the track climbed back into the UK Singles Chart after a strong number of downloads, charting at number 99.[11]

Music video

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The video, directed by Chris Sweeney, was described by Faith as looking like "a kind of Kelis/André 3000 type video".[12] Ryan Brockington of the New York Post called the video "amazing", but added "see if you slowly walk backwards searching blindly for an exit".[13] A writer from Sugarscape called it "the sunniest video in all the land".[14]

Track listing

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  • Digital download[15]
  1. "Upside Down" – 3:11
  2. "Technicolour" – 3:00
  1. "Upside Down" – 3:11
  2. "Upside Down" (Cahill Club Remix) – 6:10
  3. "Upside Down" (Widower Remix) – 4:53
  4. "Upside Down" (DC Breaks Remix) – 6:57

Credits and personnel

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Credits adapted from Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful? album liner notes.[17]

Charts

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Chart (2010) Peak
position
Iceland (RÚV)[19]
20
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[20] 55

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[21] Silver 200,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

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Region Date
United Kingdom 15 March 2010[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Paloma Faith Full Session & Interview". BBC. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  2. ^ "Radio 1 Record of the Week and Sun video exclusive!". Paloma Faith Official Website. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  3. ^ a b "Paloma Faith Upside Down". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi UK. 16 February 2010. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  4. ^ "Paloma Faith turns Upside Down". The Music Fix. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  5. ^ Nissim, Mayer (28 September 2009). "Paloma Faith: 'Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful? review". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi UK. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  6. ^ Decant, Charles (19 February 2010). "Paloma Faith has the Upside" (in French). Ozap. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  7. ^ a b English, Paul (13 March 2010). "Out on CD". Daily Record. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  8. ^ "Singles". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. Trinity Mirror. 15 March 2010. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  9. ^ "Bin it". Liverpool Echo. Trinity Mirror. 12 March 2010. Archived from the original on 30 January 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  10. ^ "The Official UK Top 100 Singles". The Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 24 March 2010. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
  11. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company".
  12. ^ "Heeeelllllloooooooeeeeeeeeee!". Paloma Faith Official Website. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  13. ^ Brockington, Ryan (19 February 2010). "If Lady GaGa had a freaky lil' sis, it would be Paloma Faith". The New York Post. Archived from the original on 4 March 2010. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  14. ^ Orouj (27 February 2010). "Paloma Faith new single rocks!". Sugarscape. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
  15. ^ "Upside Down – Single". iTunes. Apple Inc. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  16. ^ "Upside Down – EP". iTunes. Apple Inc. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  17. ^ Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful? (Compact Disc liner notes). Paloma Faith. Epic Records. 2009. p. 9. 88697543552.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  18. ^ "The opportunity of a lifetime for a young drumming sensation". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. 18 December 2009. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  19. ^ "Paloma Faith Chart History". RÚV. 31 March 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  20. ^ "Paloma Faith". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 9 August 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  21. ^ "British single certifications – Paloma Faith – Upside Down". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
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