Róisín Murphy
Take Her Up To Monto
[Play It Again Sam]
When an artist who has spent so many years without releasing records unleashes two in such quick succession – Murphy’s Hairless Toys emerged just last May after a gap of eight years – one often gets the impression that they are in the midst of a particularly hot creative streak. This seems to be the case with Róisín Murphy, and it’s no surprise to learn that much of the material on Take Her Up To Monto was drawn from the same sessions as last year’s return.
Hairless Toys played delightfully with the forms of club-ready electronica by using evolving song structures and Take Her Up To Monto repeats the dose to even greater extent. Again on this record, Murphy manages to never have anything stand still for a moment while never quite giving up on the groove. There are rich, wandering chord sequences; there’s the constant play of vocal stylings and stretched and compressed lyrical phrases; there’s songs with three different bits and surprises around every corner.
Take Her Up To Monto allows you to interact with it simply by nodding along with the propulsive rhythms that underpin it but also with a fine-toothed comb, tracking the sonic, musical and lyrical details unfolding across each of its tracks. Occasionally challenging, but always rewarding, this is the work on an artist at the top of her game.
Words: Ian Lamont
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