Róisín Murphy – ‘Hit Parade’ album review: A contrasting mixture of playfulness and depth
Irish musician Róisín Murphy initially found success as one half of Moloko, the electronic duo best known for their 1990s anthem ‘Sing It Back’. Yet, since the 2000s, Murphy has flourished as a solo artist, carrying her endless experimentalism into a sixth album, Hit Parade.
The record, which follows 2020’s acclaimed Róisín Machine, took six years to make, with the artist recruiting German producer DJ Koze for assistance. The pair, who have collaborated in the past, prove to be an indomitable duo, their ideas meshing together incredibly well.
Discussing their working relationship, Murphy revealed: “I’d make a song and think it’s a perfectly nice song, and years later, it would be turned inside-out, changed utterly. And I was up for those kinds of surprises, which he must’ve sensed from our previous work.”
On Hit Parade, Murphy and Koze work with contradictions and dichotomies, moving between artificial instruments and autotune alongside classic guitars and Murphy’s soulful voice. Moreover, the album blends playfulness and seriousness, with the singer adding lighthearted interludes throughout, in which she puts on an overly American accent. These moments allow the album to remain high-spirited as Murphy touches on heavier topics, such as death, illness and crumbling relationships. However, these snippets are slightly grating, and it’s easy to imagine the listener hitting ‘skip’ on them upon returning to the record.
Still, Hit Parade contains some of Murphy’s most outstanding works to date, such as the single ‘You Knew’, a seven-minute dance odyssey through a difficult relationship, complete with pulsating synths that evoke a slight air of melancholy. You’ll still find yourself wanting to dance to the muted club moment, even while Murphy pierces the soundscape with, “I think you’ve always known I had feelings for you that burn / But you just won’t go there with me.”
Elsewhere, Murphy reckons with death and illness, like ‘Fader’, a chilled-out number which allows the singer’s rich voice to take precedence, demonstrating the true capabilities of her stunningly unique vocals. On the closing track, ‘Eureka’, Murphy confesses personal struggles with her health, singing, “The doctor said he took one look at me/ Told me he could see there was something there/ And I can’t even say what the surgeon’s gonna take away/ And I don’t really care anyway.” The lyrics grind us in the harshness of reality, although, instrumentally, the song feels otherworldly, almost cosmic. Mysterious noises echo and dart around behind her, creating a sense of uneasiness.
Murphy wants “people to hear this record in their dreams”, and there’s no doubt that the oddly cohesive mix of icy synths, warm summery guitars, and floor-filling beats won’t infiltrate listeners’ minds. The musician has created a distinctive world full of unusual textures and vocal modulations, indulging in life’s great contradictions, which she explores both musically and lyrically. From the disorientating opener ‘Tell Me What Not To Do’ to the bouncy coolness of ‘Can’t Replicate’, Hit Parade exists in its own mystical realm. However, at its core, the record is Murphy at her most human and vulnerable.
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