The Architect

The Architect is the fourth studio album by British singer Paloma Faith, released by Sony Music Entertainment on 17 November 2017. Faith stated, "The Architect is a social observation record. I was adamant that I wouldn't write about love. I wanted to look outside of myself. I'm coming at politics from the perspective of the common man or woman, observing why people are suffering. Each song on the record is about a different pocket of the socio-political world that I've been delving into. I wanted to write something more modern. On previous albums I've been more concerned with the past, but now I'm looking forward because of motherhood and wanting to change things for a better future. It's a marriage of old and new." The Architect debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, selling 40,000 copies, becoming Faith's first UK chart-topping album and pushing Reputation by Taylor Swift from the top spot. Following the release of the Zeitgeist Edition in November 2018, The Architect re-entered the UK Albums Chart Top 40 at number twenty-two. Background In June 2015, during her Glastonbury Festival performance, Faith confirmed having started the process of creating her fourth studio album. "Now we're going to bring to your attention what I've been listening to a lot when making album number four," she told the crowd, before performing a cover of "Purple Haze" by Jimi Hendrix. In addition to the inspiration from Hendrix, Faith has also stated she has been listening to "a lot of psychedelic rock", including Janis Joplin. In another interview Faith stated she is very happy and hasn't "anything to moan about" in her current relationship, which led her to conclude that "there's a lot of things going on in the world that are [just] as important as love". As a result, Faith attempted to write songs which "aren't about love or heartache", something the singer found challenging. In a Facebook post dated 10 June 2016, Faith indicated that the new album would have a full orchestra on part of it, "composed by David Arnold".