I was sitting in a small café in Paris last week and a song came on that stopped me mid-sip. It was dreamy, slightly off-kilter song that felt out of place in winter, that made me nostalgic for the warmth of the tropics. The track was “Paraiso” by Pearl & the Oystersfrom their April 2023 album Coast 2 Coast. Pearl & the Oysters originated in Paris by French-American indie pop duo Juliette Pearl Davis and Joachim Polack. They met in high school in Paris, before they moved to Gainesville, Florida, then Los Angeles, where they recorded Coast 2 Coast, their first album. They blend indie, dream pop, retro synths, soft rock, and tropical sounds, that combine like French pop filtered through Californian oceans and sunsets. Coast 2 Coast is an album about literal and metaphorical movement: travel, displacement, and the simultaneous joy and anxiety of seeking “paradise” in an unstable world. The song “Paraiso” (Paradise), sounded sensuously sunny when I listened to it for the first time, in that Parisian café. Coincidentally, at the time – January 2026 – I was reading a UK magazine dated July/August 2023, which listed its 60 favourite summer tracks by categories. Number 7 on the Maritime beats list was “Paraiso” – a “whimsical song about being stranded on a desert island.” With coffee just touching my lips, though the music felt strangely enticing, it was the lyrics that stopped me. “Paraiso” opens with that unforgettable line: “Another day in paradise…” As the verses unfold, paradise feels less like a perfect place and more like a contradiction, with the lyrics, “an advertised dream that doesn’t quite match reality.” The song hints at idyllic imagery of endless summers and tropical horizons while acknowledging that paradise can be lonely, unbalanced, and even unsettling when viewed through the pressures of modern life. The chorus circles back to a feeling of being stranded, adrift between beauty and boredom: “My brain’s stranded on an island / A tired sea song in my head…” It’s contemplative, but less than a vacation than a state of mind. The lyrics continue, “It’s lonely in the garden of Eden.” Feeling a bit stranded myself, in a Parisian paradise, the songcaptures the same mixture of feelings that I was experiencing: both yearning and reflection. Whether it’s nostalgic warmth with an undertow of anxiety, or a promise of paradise that’s not quite what it seems, the song feels like it could be the soundtrack to a Parisian movie. There’s something poetic about hearing a song like “Paraiso” in a café near the Seine, with a reminder that paradise isn’t always a far-off beach. Sometimes it’s the small moments of stillness in a bustling city, the warm place in winter, with the aroma of coffee and the murmuring sounds of morning visitors. The song concludes with the dreamy verse: Just look around and feel the hush I’m on the edge of my seat, a mouthful of coffee warm and euphoric, expecting my final season, or 2026 at the very least, to breeze in surprise.
Can’t see the whole article? Want to view the original article? Want to view more articles? Go to Martina’s Substack: The Stories in You and Me More Paris articles are in my Paris website The Paris Residences of James Joyce You're currently a free subscriber to The Stories in You and Me . For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.
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Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Another Winter Day in Paradise, in Paris
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