This article explores Róisín Murphy's creative journey, her collaboration with DJ Koze, her approach to music production, and her unique performance style. It delves into her childhood influences, her partnership with Mark Brydon in Moloko, and her unwavering dedication to self-expression. Murphy's story is one of embracing spontaneity, trusting her collaborators, and constantly evolving as an artist.
Róisín Murphy is speaking to me over Zoom from Ibiza, the Balearic island she and her family have called home since the second coronavirus lockdown of 2020 in Britain. Her parents had already owned the house for 30 years before they moved into it. There’s no way they’d have been able to afford it otherwise, Murphy says.
The Irish-born singer has a long history with the island, having been half responsible for a few Ibiza anthems around the turn of the millennium, when she performed with Mark Brydon as the disco house duo Moloko. Since 2005, however, she’s been walking her own path as a solo artist, teaming up with a stream of idiosyncratic producers (Matthew Herbert, Maurice Fulton, Richard Barratt, aka DJ Parrot, and more) to create a catalogue of weird and wonderful dance-pop albums. Her latest album, released in 2023, has been heralded as the best of her long and critically acclaimed career. She paired up with the oddball German electronic music producer DJ Koze to make the album, sending music and vocals back and forth over a six-year period that included the pandemic. “Apart from singing and writing songs, my talent is being able to work with people like that,” says Murphy of Koze and her previous collaborators. “To allow them to lead and to not freak out because you cannot imagine how these people work until you work with them, and it’s never as you think: it’s always more complex.” It’s surprising to hear that the notoriously fierce Murphy takes a back seat during the production process, but she’s learnt that letting mavericks follow their vision yields the best results. “I know it’s very important to let them teach me things I didn’t know, and for the music to be the area in which I remain the most open-minded and the most naive because that’s how it started for me,” she says. How it started for Murphy, famously, was when she met Brydon at 21 at a party and cheekily asked him, “Do you like my tight sweater?” Brydon clocked Murphy’s frontwoman energy immediately and the pickup line would eventually become the name of their first album as Moloko.“I had no idea that it would turn into much other than him showing off his studio to me, but it became something even more amazing than a love affair,” she says. “He really believed in me before I even knew what was happening, and that was a magical thing to happen to me.” Brydon might have coaxed the artist out of Murphy, but she admits to being an exhibitionist since childhood, when her Uncle Jim, a well-known musician, would host jazz parties. “I’d be there every Sunday, dancing from the minute I got there until I’d be dragged out screaming,” she says. Murphy insists that her late father, who refurbished pubs around Ireland, is more of a legend than she is back home (she founded her own record label called Mickey Murphy’s Daughter in 2009). Her mother was an antiques dealer who instilled in Murphy a love of fashion and taught her about period costumes from various eras. “There were a lot of great characters around me,” says Murphy, who credits her raucous, free-spirited childhood with leading her on a path of creative expression. “Dancing to my Uncle Jim became dancing to the DJs in Sheffield, and it was that scene that brought me into the music scene,” she says.While Murphy is happy to be led musically by the producers she works with, she does like to oversee the visual aspect of her work, from her choreography to the costumes that have become increasingly avant-garde over the years. On the first day of a tour, she’ll try to whittle down the options with her wardrobe assistant and roadie Simon. “He’s strong and reliable, and he’s not fancy at all, but he’s,” Murphy says. “And I turn up with seven suitcases, and he’s waiting for me to start pulling things out and trying them on.” When playing a particularly big show such as her 2023 concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall, Murphy might plan out her set more carefully, but she generally thrives on a fluid approach to performance centred on her fabulous, theatrical dance moves and myriad costume changes. “There’s a tightrope element, I don’t really know exactly what’s going to happen or how it’s going to evolve,” she says. “But by the time I’m comfortable with something, it gets boring to me, and it’s time to throw me back into another state of chaos and disarray and then figure it out again.”After a decade as a club darling with Moloko, and a run of moderately successful solo albums, Murphy has been on another upwards trajectory since releasing a string of infectious house EPs with producer Maurice Fulton in 2018. Despite this recent spike in her popularity, Murphy says she’s never felt successful and isn’t sure if that’s been by her own desig
ROISÍN MURPHY DJ KOZE IBIZA DANCE-POP MUSIC PRODUCTION PERFORMANCE ART CREATIVITY MOLEKO ELECTRONIC MUSIC
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Meta tries letting Facebook Marketplace users view eBay listings as way to resolve EU charges7NEWS brings you the latest local news from Australia and around the world. Stay up to date with all of the breaking sport, politics, entertainment, finance, weather and business headlines. Today's news, live updates & all the latest breaking stories from 7NEWS.
Read more »
Carol Jerrems: A Revelation in Portrait PhotographyThe National Portrait Gallery's exhibition of Carol Jerrems' portrait photography showcases her talent for capturing the essence of her subjects.
Read more »
Ibiza Music Icon DJ Alfredo Dies at 71DJ Alfredo, a legendary figure in Ibiza's dance music scene, has passed away at the age of 71. Known for his inclusive and eclectic sets that shaped the Balearic Beat sound, Alfredo's impact on club culture, particularly in the 1980s, was profound.
Read more »
DJ Alfredo, Ibiza Dance Music Icon, Dies at 71DJ Alfredo, a legendary figure in Ibiza's dance music scene, passed away at the age of 71. Known for his inclusive and energetic style, he significantly contributed to Ibiza's global reputation as a dance music haven.
Read more »
Handscomb, Murphy and Kuhnemann in contention for Sri Lanka Test tourPeter Handscomb, Todd Murphy and Matt Kuhnemann are vying for spots in the Australian cricket team touring Sri Lanka. Handscomb, who has a strong record against spin, has been invited to join the squad for the fifth Test in Sydney. Both Murphy and Kuhnemann are expected to be selected as spinners for the two Tests in Galle.
Read more »
Embroidery RevivalA writer recounts their rediscovery of the joy of embroidery after years of letting it go.
Read more »