"Just Be" is a song by British recording artist

Paloma Faith Paloma Faith Blomfield (born 21 July 1981) is an English singer and actress. Her debut studio album, ''Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?,'' was released in 2009 and was certified double platinum in the UK. The album spawned the sing ...

from her second studio album ''

Fall to Grace ''Fall to Grace'' is the second studio album by English recording artist Paloma Faith. It was released by RCA Records on 28 May 2012. She worked on the album with producer Nellee Hooper, who previously worked with artists such as Madonna, Björk ...

'' (2012). It was released on 16 December 2012 by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

as the fourth single from the album. Written by Faith,

Greg Wells Greg Wells is a Canadian musician, record producer, songwriter and audio engineer. Wells has songs on over 130 million albums sold. He has worked with John Legend, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ariana Grande, Jazmine Sullivan, Kid Cudi, Adele, Rufus Wai ...

and

Matt Hales Matthew Nicholas Hales (born 17 January 1972) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer who has been performing professionally under the name Aqualung since the early 2000s. Aqualung is best known in the UK for his song "St ...

, "Just Be" is a "love song for real lovers". One critic called it an honest portrait of the highs and lows of relationships. "Just Be" reached Number 66 in the UK Singles Chart, three months before it was released. The official

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was released on 5 November 2012 and features Faith in a love affair with a man in

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Background

"Just Be" was written by Faith along with

and

. It was co-produced by Nellee Hooper and Jake Gosling. It was released by

on 16 December 2012. Explaining the meaning of the song, Faith stated "It's supposed to be a realistic love song for real lovers. It's saying, 'He gets on my nerves, but I love him.' I find that more endearing than, 'There's no one out there but him.' That seems naive. I have a lot of admiration for people who've been in relationships a long time, married for years. This is a more knowing take on romance." "Just Be" was used by

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

as the soundtrack to their New Season Drama trailer.

Reception

Critical response

During his review of ''Fall to Grace'',

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

's Robert Copsey called "Just Be" a ballad that is "packed to the brim with old glamour." Copsey later gave the song five stars and stated that the song "strips back the usual grandiose production" and allows Faith's "rich and velvety voice to come to the fore". He added "The result is soul-pop perfection that, if we had it our way, would be topping the charts this Christmas." Trent Maynard from

4Music 4Music is a British music television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. The original incarnation was launched on 15 August 2008, and until 29 June 2022, showed a mix of music and entertainment programming. It ...

said "The song is an honest and moving portrait of the highs and lows of love and relationships." Perez Hilton commented that the song is "gorgeous", before adding "A power ballad that grabs you instantly by the heartstrings and doesn't let go till the song is over! No gimmicks here! Just a piano, a special voice, beautiful melodies and meaningful lyrics!" Mark Blankenship from Newnownext.com revealed that "Just Be" was his favourite Faith song, saying it is "a torchy ballad with some delicious theatrical touches. In the first chorus, my girl actually shushes her man! But because a true diva knows the importance of restraint, she doesn't repeat that shushing until the very end of the song. Twice is enough, y'all. She has made her point. And besides, that frees her up to growl like a wounded love tiger."

Chart performance

In early September 2012, "Just Be" entered the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

at number 66. It then went on to spend at total of 4 weeks in the top 100.

Music video

The accompanying

, directed by Emil Nava, was released on 5 November 2012. It was shot in black and white and on location in

. The video shows Faith in a tempestuous love affair with a man. Faith's lover is played by James D. Kelly, the same actor who previously appeared as her love interest in the videos for " Picking Up the Pieces, "

30 Minute Love Affair "30 Minute Love Affair" is a song performed by English recording artist Paloma Faith. It was released on 10 August 2012, by RCA Records, as the second single from her second studio album ''Fall to Grace'' (2012). The song was written by Faith and ...

" and " Never Tear Us Apart. Grace Carroll from Gigwise commented "Paloma Faith is no stranger to odd antics, so her choice to strip off - and sit on a bare wood floor - in her latest video is definitely one of the least strange things she's done."

Live performances

To promote ''Fall to Grace'', Faith performed "Just Be" on '' Later... with Jools Holland'' in May 2012. Viewers voted it the second best performance of the night during a poll on ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

's'' website. Faith included "Just Be" in her set for her performances at Somerset House in July. In August, Faith filmed and released an acoustic performance of the song. The following month, she included "Just Be" in her set list for

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

's Live in Hyde Park concert.

Track listing

*Digital download #"Just Be" – 4:38 *Digital EP #"Just Be" – 4:38 #"Just Be" (Shy FX & B.Traits Mix) – 4:35 #"Just Be" (Full Intention Remix) – 5:20 #"Just Be" (Distance Remix) – 4:32

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from ''Fall to Grace'' album liner notes. *

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

– songwriter *

– songwriter * Nellee Hooper – producer, mixer, programming * Jake Gosling – co-producer, programming *Dave Miles –

audio engineering Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound * Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound *Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum * Digital audio, representation of sou ...

Simon Gogerly Simon Gogerly is a British audio engineer with credits including artists such as U2, Paloma Faith, No Doubt and Massive Attack. Gogerly started his career playing keyboards on tour in the 1980s for the new wave band Dead or Alive. He then w ...

– mix engineer * Ed Harcourt – piano

Charts

Release history

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Just Be 2010s ballads 2012 singles Paloma Faith songs Songs written by Paloma Faith Song recordings produced by Nellee Hooper Songs written by Greg Wells Pop ballads Soul ballads Songs written by Aqualung (musician) 2012 songs RCA Records singles