Róisín Murphy
Hairless Toys
[Play It Again Sam]
It’s been eight years since a full Róisín Murphy LP but Hairless Toys is a suitably auspicious return. Emblematic of Murphy’s ability to play around with pop structures is the nine-minute Exploitation. It begins with a clunking and pounding kit before that breaks down into a super-minimal house groove, until about halfway through a burst of flicky-wrist guitars take it to another level. Better still is closer Unputdownable where Murphy runs through book/love metaphors over sparse piano arpeggios before bursting into a Joni Mitchell-in-the-club chorus.
Words: Ian Lamont
