Roisin Murphy
When: 13th February 2024
Location: O2 Academy
Roisin Murphy is the former Moloko singer and eclectic purveyor of disco and funk. Coming to Glasgow’s O2 Academy on 13th February 2024.
Roisin Murphy was born in Dublin and spent her teenage years in Manchester. In 1994, she teamed up with producer Mark Brydon to form the electronic duo Moloko. Reportedly attempting to chat up Brydon, Murphy uttered the words: “Do you like my tight sweater?”, a phrase which would become the title of the electronic pop duo’s debut album a year later. Across four albums, Moloko released the likes of The Time Is Now, Fun For Me, and summer anthem Sing It Back, before the pair split after 2002’s Statues.
Moving to London, Murphy teamed up with producer Matthew Herbert for an experimental trio of EPs, Sequins #1, #2 and #3. Introducing the world to Murphy’s more atypical approach, all three EPs were collated by Echo Records and released as her debut solo album, Ruby Blue, in 2005. Overpowered followed two years later, injecting more overt pop melodies into Murphy’s sound.
Second Solo Album
It would be another eight years until Murphy released another solo album, during which time she embraced further collaboration with the likes of Fatboy Slim, David Byrne, Mason and Bugz In The Attic’s Seiji. Murphy also released the Italian language Mi Senti EP in 2014. Shortly thereafter she returned with Gone Fishing, the lead single from her third studio album Hairless Toys. Released in May 2015, the record entered the top 20 of the UK album chart, securing both a Mercury Music Prize and Choice Music Prize nomination.
Retaining the album’s momentum, Murphy released Hairless Toys‘ companion record Take Her Up To Monto only a year later. The record was co-produced by Eddie Stevens during the same sessions as her previous album and was praised for its simultaneous grandeur and minimalism.
Delving into other artistic projects over subsequent years, Murphy returned in 2020 with the single ‘Murphy’s Law’. It was swiftly followed by a number of live at-home performances, made available through six short films. In July 2020, Murphy announced that her fifth solo album, Roisin Machine, would be released at the end of September and would include two singles originally unveiled back in the mid-00s.
In 2022, Murphy made her acting debut in the Netflix series The Bastard Son And The Devil Himself. Her sixth album Hit Parade, made over a six-year period in collaboration with DJ Koze, arrived in 2023 to rave reviews.
