Page 14 - MidWeek - June 23, 2021

14 MIDWEEK JUNE 23, 2021
Paula Fuga gets ready to shower fans with a hot new project, Rain on Sunday, her first full-length album in more than a decade.
F ew things make Pau- la Fuga as uncom- fortable as the heat. It’s why she carries soap, extra clothes and a towel just about everywhere she goes, and why she’s always ready to shower at a mo-
knowledges. “I did a gig once and people were greet- ing me every few feet and wanting to take a picture, wanting a hug. But in my head I was thinking, ‘I’ m so hot — please, stop touching me!’ ”
Born in Fort Polk South, Louisiana, in the winter of 1978 (her birthday is Dec. 30), she soon found herself in warmer-than-ideal con- ditions after her grandpar- ents moved her into their Waimānalo home.
house and I’d do it all over again.”
Now, 42 summers later, Fuga is doing something else all over again — that is, taking hot lyrics and putting them to oh, so cool melodies. Following a decadelong pause in album releases, her long-awaited project, Rain on Sunday, will finally be out later this week (June 25). It features not only her soulful vocal stylings and elegant ‘ukule- le playing, but the notable voices and instrumenta- tion of Jack Johnson, Ben Harper, J Boog and Natural Vibrations as well. In ad- dition, the deft production work of Mike Love, whose
leadership Fuga credits in bringing the project to frui- tion, is on full display.
on Sunday are the reverse lullaby Too Hot Mama, in which she croons about her aversion to heat and how she was “born in the winter ... made for the cold”; the ultra hopeful ditty Just A Little Bit, which was written for her nieces caught in the middle of a parental battle, and who she encourages to “sing just a little bit sweet- er, close your eyes it gets a little easier”; the smooth empowerment anthem You Got This Girl, in which Fuga reminds those caught in an abusive relationship that “you’ re strong, you’ re beautiful ... and I believe in you”; and the album’s lead
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ment’s notice.
“I’m just a very
To her credit, Fuga chose to stick around despite the sticky situation.
Reflecting on that first summer in Hawai‘i when round-the-clock efforts by her grandparents to control her fussiness were often in vain, Fuga says, “I’ d sleep for a little while but then wake up screaming bloody murder because I was so hot. My grandparents would wipe me down and take me outside in the breeze where I’d fall asleep, but then they’ d bring me back in the
Like a proud mama, Fuga glows when talking about birthing her latest composi- tions. Many of the album’s 12 tracks promote ideals of love, hope, freedom, progress and perseverance, and the songstress believes the wisdom in the lyrics — along with the album’s standout musicianship — will strike a familiar chord with her listeners.
hot person,” the musician ac-
“I just told myself, ‘Calm yourself down, Mary!” re- calls Fuga, chuckling at her moment of self-reproach. “‘You’re going to be in the shower in 10 minutes. Just be nice. You’re fine.’”
Truth is, she’s always been this way. Even as a child, her temperature ran uncomfortably hot.
“I think that this album really shows my growth and maturity in the songwriting process,” says Fuga.
Among the tracks she showers fans with on Rain