"Picking Up the Pieces" is a song by English 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, Bjö ...

''. Produced by

Nellee Hooper Nellee Hooper (born Paul Andrew Hooper on 15 March 1963) is a British record producer, remixer and songwriter known for his work with many major recording artists beginning in the late 1980s. He also debuted as a motion picture music composer w ...

and written by Faith,

Wayne Hector Wayne Anthony Hector is a British songwriter who is best known for his work with pop artists such as Nicki Minaj, One Direction, the Wanted, Toše Proeski and Olly Murs. He co-wrote seven of Westlife's number one singles, including "World of O ...

and Tim Powell, it was released as the album's first single on 18 May 2012. Faith revealed "Picking Up the Pieces" was inspired by the issues and insecurity of dating someone who is recovering from a previous relationship. The artwork for the single was revealed on 5 April 2012. "Picking Up the Pieces" 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 7, making it Faith's first Top 10 single and her highest charting single in the UK until "

Only Love Can Hurt Like This "Only Love Can Hurt Like This" is a song by English singer Paloma Faith, written by Diane Warren. Released as the second single to promote her third studio album, ''A Perfect Contradiction'' (2014), on 11 May 2014, it was promoted on shows suc ...

" (2014) peaked at number 6. Critical reception of the song has been positive. The song's accompanying

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 directed by Emil Nava and it was released on 12 April 2012. The video features Faith portraying a woman who is in "a tempestuous relationship" with her boyfriend. As the video progresses it shows Faith's relationship with her boyfriend crumbling and she becomes wax-like and melts.

Background and artwork

In March 2010, Faith revealed that she was working on a second album. During an interview with a

Popjustice Popjustice is a music website founded in 2000 by UK freelance music journalist Peter Robinson, who has worked for ''NME'', ''The Guardian'', ''Attitude'' and many others. It is composed of the work of editor Robinson, features editor Michael Cra ...

reporter, she explained the album would contain more "agony and suffering." Faith enlisted record producer

to work with her on the project. Hooper told a writer for ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' that he had not really heard of Faith as he was living in Los Angeles when her first album was released. He said Sony and

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 ...

contacted him and suggested he meet Faith. Faith wrote and recorded ''Fall To Grace'' in London. On 29 February 2012, it was announced "Picking Up the Pieces" would serve as the first single from the album. Faith described the song as being about "...the issues of being in a relationship with someone who is still recovering from a previous relationship with another person. It is a song about self-doubt and insecurity." She added that she was excited to introduce her new sound to the world. Co-written by Faith,

and Tim Powell, "Picking Up the Pieces" was released in the UK by RCA Records on 20 May 2012. The cover art for the single was released exclusively on the

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, ...

website on 5 April. The cover shows Faith dressed in a couture, full-length

Dolce & Gabbana Dolce & Gabbana (), also known by initials D&G, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1985 in Legnano by Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The house specializes in ready-to-wear, handbags, accessories, and cosmetic ...

dress, wrapped up in a faux fur stole by seamstress Wendy Benstead. The image is completely un-retouched.

Critical reception

"Picking Up the Pieces" has received generally positive reviews from critics. Colin Gentry of

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 "Picking Up the Pieces" is "a classy, pacey song of trying to compete with a lover's ex-girlfriend. It's hard to imagine anyone putting our Paloma in the shade, and her pained vocals certainly belt out loud enough for everyone to hear her angst." Digital Spy's Robert Copsey and Lewis Corner thought the single was "an anthemic trailer of sweeping strings and relentless drums", which felt "as intimate" as Faith's previous work. In his official review, Corner gave "Picking Up the Pieces" five stars and stated Faith "may not think she's able to obtain the prime ideal of perfection, but 'Picking Up The Pieces' skirts dangerously close - and for that alone, it's more than worthy of some global recognition." Tim Ingham of ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' branded the track a "thumping thick-skinned anthem". While

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

entertainment reporter Mark Savage called it "a strident, string-laden 'mega-ballad'". So So Gay's Leo Kristoffersson said the song's lyrics "are delivered with Faith's characteristically affirmative vocals". He added "The smoky, jazz-tinged vocal style we have become accustomed to are slightly sharper on the track, which reflects the angst that inspired the track perfectly. We predict big things for this track." During his review of the album,

BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio o ...

's Nick Levine wrote "Lead single 'Picking Up the Pieces' is epic, like stallions galloping across the silver screen". David of ''We Love Pop'' magazines gave the single a mixed review. He said "Picking Up the Pieces" was "predictable but strong". He added "We enjoy pop stars that are both a little bit bonkers and are in charge of their own careers; Paloma is both but this song doesn't fully showcase the brilliant pop star she could be."

Chart performance

On the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

, "Picking Up the Pieces" debuted at number 82 for the week ending 24 May 2012. It rose two places the following week, before reaching number 77. The single then hit a peak of 13 for the week ending 22 June 2012. "Picking Up the Pieces" debuted at number 7 on the

for the week ending 2 June 2012, selling 32,607 copies. This made "Picking Up the Pieces" Faith's first Top 10 single. The following week, the single fell five places. For its third week in the chart, "Picking Up the Pieces" remained inside the top twenty at number nineteen. It later rose to number fourteen and then number ten during its fifth week on the chart. "Picking Up the Pieces" entered the Scottish Singles Chart at number 3.

Music video

The accompanying

, directed by Emil Nava, was released on 12 April 2012. Faith portrays a woman who is stuck in "a tempestuous relationship with a possessive boyfriend." Her love interest is portrayed by Faith's real life friend, James. The couple go to a country hotel where they are surrounded by wealthy guests, who appear to be enjoying themselves. As the video progresses it shows Faith's relationship with her boyfriend crumbling. Of the concept, Faith commented:

"The idea is that we've just broken up and we're both very upset. He's sort of besotted by this other version of me who represents perfection. He's in love with perfection, but the perfection doesn't actually exist - it's like the perfection that I've imagined in my own paranoid, self-loathing way."

Faith then becomes wax-like and she begins to melt, which Lewis Corner of Digital Spy described as resembling "the emotional crumbling she has suffered through domestic abuse." Faith told Corner's colleague Robert Copsey that the scene in which she melts shows that her character is not real and that what she was imagining does not even exist. She added "We have this kiss at the end that signifies that we just had a blip. I think that happens a lot in relationships." While the story plays out, Faith is seen singing in the grounds of the hotel. The singer revealed that the setting for the video was inspired by ''

Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American Mystery fiction, mystery serial drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on American Broadcasting Company, ABC on April 8, 1990, and originally ran for two seasons until its cance ...

'', '' 2046'', '' The Shining'' and

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...

. Louisa Walker of

said the video shows off Faith's "love of 20th century-inspired style". She added "Paloma has said that 'The new album has taken on a very cinematic mood,' and this is evident in this story-led video for the lead single." A Popjustice writer called the video "great" and quipped "It makes the song seem about 150% better than it actually is. Maybe it just makes you realise how good the song actually is." They added that the video has some nice clothes featured in it. The video for "Picking Up the Pieces" was nominated for

's Best Video Of 2012 and Best Pop Video at the

UK Music Video Awards The UK Music Video Awards is an annual celebration of creativity, technical excellence and innovation in music video and moving image for music. The awards began in 2008. There is a wide range of opportunities for UK individuals and companies to ...

Live performances

On 19 May 2012, Faith performed "Picking Up the Pieces" live on '' T4''. She also performed the track during the fourth results show of ''

The Voice UK ''The Voice UK'' is a British singing competition television series. Created by John de Mol, it premiered on BBC One during the spring television cycle on 24 March 2012. Based on the original ''The Voice of Holland'', and part of ''The Voice ...

''. On 30 May 2012, Faith talked about and performed "Picking Up the Pieces" live on '' This Morning''. "Picking Up the Pieces" was performed by Faith on ''

The Graham Norton Show ''The Graham Norton Show'' is a British comedy chat show presented by Graham Norton. It was initially broadcast on BBC Two, from 22 February 2007, before moving to BBC One in October 2009. It currently airs on Friday evenings, with Norton s ...

'' on 15 June. Faith included "Picking Up the Pieces" in her set for her live performances at Somerset House on 17 and 18 July.

Track listing

*Digital download #"Picking Up the Pieces" (Radio edit) – 3:34 *Digital EP #"Picking Up the Pieces" (Radio edit) – 3:34 #"Picking Up the Pieces" (Acoustic version) – 3:45 #"Picking Up the Pieces" (RackNRuin Remix) – 4:11 #"Picking Up the Pieces" ( Moto Blanco Club Mix) – 8:20

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 * Tim Powell – songwriter, strings *

– producer, mixer, keyboards, drums *

Jake Gosling Jake Gosling is an English music producer, songwriter, remixer, manager, and publisher best known for his work with artists such as Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga, The Libertines, James Bay, Shawn Mendes, All Time Low, One Direction, Major Lazer, Christ ...

– co-producer, keyboards, drums *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 ...

*Andy Hughes – audio engineering *

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 A mixing engineer (or simply mix engineer) is responsible for combining ("mixing") different sonic elements of an auditory piece into a complete rendition (also known as "final mix" or "mixdown"), whether in music, film, or any other content of a ...

*Urban Voices Choir – Choir *Peter Honore – Guitar

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Cover versions

In 2013, ''

'' contestant Mike Ward performed the song during the competition. A studio version of his performance was released and peaked at number 72 in the UK Singles Chart.

References

External links

Paloma Faith's official website
* {{Authority control 2012 singles Paloma Faith songs Songs written by Wayne Hector Songs written by Tim Powell (producer) Song recordings produced by Nellee Hooper Songs written by Paloma Faith 2012 songs RCA Records singles