Cillian Murphy and his support of The Lemon Twigs: “Everyone should listen”
For most artists, there’s no point when one medium starts and another ends. Most people are just trying to express themselves to the best of their abilities, and whether it’s watching something on the big screen or making the most grandiose-sounding record, it’s always about making the audience feel something inside rather than glossing over them. Although Cillian Murphy has developed an almost clinical precision as an actor, he thought that anyone taking music to heart owes it to themselves to listen to The Lemon Twigs.
Then again, let’s look at both the band and Murphy in terms of what they provide for their audiences. While Murphy has still done some of his best work in film working alongside Christopher Nolan, some of his mannerisms seem to be ripped directly out of the old guard of acting from decades before.
Although there are many moments in Oppenheimer where things can go a little bit off the rails, everything that he does onscreen seems to be choreographed to the letter, just like greats like Al Pacino had done decades before. However, whereas Murphy has that sense of discipline in his craft, The Lemon Twigs seem to come from a place of pure fun whenever they get behind their instruments.
Throughout every one of their albums, both Brian and Michael D’Addario resurrect the glory days of power pop and rock and roll from years gone by. Just listening to their album A Dream Is All We Know, you can catch traces of everything from The Beatles to The Monkees to even the old-school Beach Boys sound in how they construct their harmonies.
Rock and roll has never run short on nostalgia acts, but The Lemon Twigs have never thought about their sound in those terms. It’s always been about taking those old tropes and using them to create something new, whether that be making a perfectly condensed pop song or letting a tune stretch out just a little bit more than a typical radio hit to fit in every musical idea they have.
Although Murphy has talked about being a massive fan of the group, he felt that anyone interested in looking for musical craft should study what the Lemon Twigs are doing, stating, “There’s a great band called the Lemon Twigs that everyone should listen to… I think they’re about to be huge. It’s kind of glam-prog, with beautiful melodies, beautiful singing.”
Despite them being worlds apart from each other in terms of creative mediums, both Murphy and the D’Addario brothers have the same fearlessness when approaching their craft. It might not be the most sensible thing for them to be working on period pieces, it’s about trying to capture a feeling in their performances rather than capitalising on whatever trend is going on at any one time.
Because at the heart of all good artists, it’s about following one’s muse. No matter how many times people try to steer someone in the direction that they “should” be going, Murphy and the D’Addarios know that it’s about doing it because it’s something that you want to express rather than being the flashy star.
