Róisín Murphy
Hit Parade
Ninja Tune
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Róisín Murphy is a consummate artist. An artist whose medium, music & fashion screams refusal to be constrained by boundaries. With every new phase of her musical journey, creativity and beauty in all their musical glory flourish unlike anything you have heard or seen before. Murphy truly embodies just what it means to be a pioneer in her field.
Joining forces with German Techno aficionado DJ Koze (Stefan Kozalla) for her sixth solo studio album Hit Parade, Murphy’s musical vision is in fine form as she navigates her way through various genres including disco, hip-hop, soul and experimental house, culminating in one of this year’s most ambitious moments. At times it feels as if Murphy has abandoned all care with respect to what others expect of her and for many, this would come off as aloof, arrogant or unaware of their audience’s desires. In her case, it’s intrinsically just what her audience wants: HER.
To suggest that this eclectic album—the successor to 2020’s universally acclaimed Róisín Machine— isn’t for everyone would be false. Each of its thirteen songs stands alone and, akin to Basquiat’s artwork, requires your undivided attention. The parallels to Basquiat’s art are more than just the obvious internal chaos manifested onto canvas. You continually move in and out of turning away, only to return seconds later for yet another look. Did I miss something? Have I misinterpreted something? Murphy’s music works on the same premise, forcing you to come back for repeated listens, and with each new listen a revelation occurs.
Throughout Hit Parade, Murphy’s lyrics grapple with the messy, frustrating, and often painful experience of longing for someone who doesn’t feel the same way. Album opener “What Not To Do” is a plaintive ballad driven by a simple, yearning melody that swells with strings and synths. “Whether I'm hoping, against hope / Tell me what not to do / I get it on, when I want,” Murphy sings, her voice raw with emotion.
The album’s lead single “CooCool,” by contrast, is a gentle disco track that pulses as the backdrop to Murphy’s darling and nonsensical lyrics about the birds and bees. “I hear a coo coo / I hear a cooing /Sweet lover coo coo.” It’s a beautiful reminder about the joys of love and the simplicity that can be inherent within it.
Listen to the Album:
Throughout Hit Parade, Murphy and Koze playfully experiment with different musical styles and textures. Given that this album was developed collaboratively over the course of six years and crafted remotely with Murphy in London and Koze in Hamburg, what may have started out as a conflict of schedules and then became a necessity during the pandemic, ended up being one of the greatest things about this album. Both artists, although coming together to create, were given autonomy and a sense of freedom with their writing and creative processes, and it shows. Murphy’s lyrics in particular are personal and intimate, almost like she had completely forgotten the rest of world was eventually going to listen to these songs.
On “The Universe,” Murphy speaks to the power of love in the face of chaos and uncertainty. Spoken-word interludes in a distorted American accent coupled with the repetition of “row, row, row my boat” create a weirdly experimental and curious sound. Somehow it just works. On "Hurtz So Bad," Murphy examines a relationship that has become toxic, all while trying to avoid the trappings that entails. Meanwhile, "This House" portrays love as a suffocating force, where desire feels like a prison rather than a source of freedom. Murphy’s emotional deep dive on this album is clearly a cathartic experience.
Hit Parade is an album that showcases Murphy’s proven versatility as an artist. She seamlessly moves between genres, from soul to disco to house, without missing a beat. The album is a testament to her unique artistry and her ability to create music that is both nostalgic and modern at the same time. Whilst the first part of the album has a lighter and more playful sound, the four-track run from “Fader” to “Can’t Replicate” stands out and demonstrates Murphy’s ability to breathe new life into classic sounds (“You Knew” is 7 minutes of anthemic club ecstasy).
Hit Parade is futuristic, imaginative, spectacularly beautiful and ridiculously inimitable, all things that Murphy seems to always achieve, whether she intends to or not.
Notable Tracks: “Can’t Replicate” | “Free Will” | “Hurtz So Bad” | “What Not To Do”
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