01.10.20

Around the world, the nightlife scene has been at a standstill for months, but pop and pop-adjacent performers have kept the spirit alive with new lockdown anthems from Dua Lipa, Jessie Ware, Jessy Lanza, and now, Róisín Murphy. With production by Sheffield’s DJ Parrot, Róisín Machine puts a spotlight on Murphy’s club kid aesthetic as her voice moves from soulful and deep to brassy and bright, often within the same phrase. Above all else, you can tell how much fun Murphy has had making this album, from playing dress-up as the cool-headed disco diva on Murphy’s Law to cooing mystically over the frantic, heart-pounding guitars on Jealousy.

With four solo albums under her belt and another four as half of trip-hop duo Moloko, Róisín Murphy returns to the exuberance of her earlier work. It’s a departure from 2015’s darker, more contemplative Hairless Toys, and a return to the foot-tapping hooks of Overpowered. Dancefloor anthems grow out of disco strings and house beats, each given plenty of space to breathe with tracks like Something More and Simulation spilling well over the five-minute mark.

The album is decadent and indulgent at times and it only adds to the allure: Murphy doesn’t worry about being too much, and on Róisín Machine, more is more. As she demands on lead single Something More: “I want it all, yes all the cake.”

Nathan Ma