A Perfect Contradiction is the third studio album by English recording artist Paloma Faith, released by Sony Music Entertainment on 10 March 2014.

The album received mixed reviews; it spawned six singles; "Can't Rely on You", "Only Love Can Hurt Like This", "Trouble with My Baby", "Ready for the Good Life", "Leave While I'm Not Looking" and "Beauty Remains";[6][non-primary source needed] the first two of these charted within the top 10 in the United Kingdom and "Only Love Can Hurt Like This" topped the charts in Australia.

The second single from the album, "Only Love Can Hurt Like This", was written entirely by Diane Warren, who has written for Faith twice again, towards the single "Leave While I'm Not Looking" (Featured on the outsider's edition of Faith's third studio album "A Perfect Contradiction"), and "The Crazy Ones" (Featured as the main theme of the film "Miss You Already").

Further commenting: "There's often a temptation for soul singers to turn out albums full of ballads, so kudos to Paloma for coming up with something lively and largely mid to uptempo.

"[14] The album earned 3 stars out of 5 from The Guardian, saying it was "consistent but formulaic: horns plus wailing vocals plus Motown feel start to grate by the end of the record.

It may be nothing new but her punchy, uplifting set of pastiche Sixties and Seventies soul, r’n’b and disco is perfectly pitched with just an appealing hint of exaggeration.

Further commented: "Ultimately, it's Faith's irrepressible enthusiasm and unbridled vocal ability that shine the most on A Perfect Contradiction, and having musicians like Pharrell and Saadiq around just works to sweeten the deal.

"[20] A Perfect Contradiction debuted on the UK Albums Chart at number two, beaten by The Take Off and Landing of Everything by Elbow from the top spot.

[29] The first single from the album, "Can't Rely on You", was written with, and produced by, Pharrell Williams and reached number 10 on the UK Top 40 charts in its first week.

It was released on 23 February 2014, although the song had been premiered on YouTube, along with its music video (which is directed by Paul Gore and features Faith speaking in Italian in an elaborate retro introduction), the previous month, and had been playing on UK radio since then.

In late March 2014, Faith announced on her social networking sites that "Only Love Can Hurt Like This" would be the second single from the album.

Faith confirmed that the song was based around love, and as a result of this held a Valentine's Day competition on her social media sites.