FEATURE:
Bring It Back
IN THIS PHOTO: Róisín Murphy/ALL PHOTOS/IMAGES: Getty Images
The Artists Who Continue to Make Incredible Music – Yet Seem to Be Defined by Their Biggest Hits
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I have been reading the Twitter feed of Róisín Murphy…
and am troubled by what I read! The Irish singer-songwriter has been emotional and is fighting against those who cannot see past her work with Moloko. Some, when reviewing her recent work, recognise Murphy is as potent as ever - they give her proper kudos and see she is an ever-changing artist. I admit: I am one of those people who followed Murphy and (Mark) Brydon during the 1990s/2000s. I loved the albums, I Am Not a Doctor (1998), and Things to Make and Do (2000). That decade (millennium)-spanning brilliance from the duo spawned singles such as Sing It Back and The Time Is Now. I even loved an album that got less critical love than those two: the brilliant, underrated Statues. The brilliant, lead-off single is one of my very favourites: Familiar Feeling is Moloko at their sassiest and most addictive. In musical-journalism-chess-terms; this might be a discovered attack or en passant play: in any case; I am reacting to an article that highlighted Moloko’s best-known hit, Bring It Back. The article is, as Murphy states, brilliant and very passionate. The first standout quote/segment from the article distils the song’s energy and what it was all about:
“Wilfully idiosyncratic, gloriously arty and fiercely protective of what Moloko stood for, Sing It Back represents a strange anomaly in their career; both their defining moment for many, but also not entirely their baby. Its gestation involves tantrums, label arguments, hanging out with Mel C and furniture reupholstering”.
Another extract – the piece is a conversation with Murphy as she explores the song’s oirigns and impact – looks at Sing It Back and what it meant to her:
“It still feels like a victory, honestly. Actually, it still feels like a lesson more than a victory, in that you should trust your instincts. The best thing about Sing It Back and Time Is Now, is that it took us to festivals all over the world, to play in front of thousands and thousands and people. That was the best thing that came out of it. I also got to perform it on Top of the Pops just as I'd imagined it after I put the CD on in Sheffield months before. Who else was on the show? Sporty Spice was there with the Canadian fella... Bryan Adams! Or was that with The Time Is Now? I forget. I do know a lot of these young popstars were watching me and going 'hm, it is possible to be cool and popular at the same time”.
I was sixteen when Sing It Back was released (15th March, 1999) and recall the playground chatter and the way we took the song, and Moloko, to heart. It was an incredible time and one that opened my eyes to a different form of music!
I was growing up around chart music and the rise-fall of Britpop: Moloko’s candid, colourful and inventive music did something staggering and changed mine and a lot of people’s lives. Whilst the article from i-D pays tribute to a decade-scoring gem; there seems to be the insinuation that Róisín Murphy is the sum of that one song. Maybe there is an irony in The Time Is Now: we are not looking at the work she has produced post-Moloko and where she is in her career to this day. One of my best moments from music journalism was reviewing Murphy’s Take Her Up to Monto. I was writing for The Metropolist (now defunct - not my fault!) and gave it a hearty four-star thumbs-up. My words suggested, however, something akin to a golden five-star review. I tagged Murphy on Twitter and she, with a wink, asked how the rating system worked over there – why was she not getting top marks?! I worried I’d peed her off and should have given it five stars as the album was worthy of it – the actual fact is sites/papers are reluctant to dish out too many five-star reviews as a whole. In any case; I was amazed by the album and how it differed from her Moloko work. Lip Service, Ten Miles High and Romantic Comedy are two of the finest songs Murphy has penned (she co-wrote the album with Eddie Stevens). Critics gave the 2016-released album a load of love and recognised what a sensational effort it was.
Track back to 2015’s Hairless Toys, with Stevens’ co-writing, and you have another brilliant creation. There are eight tracks but (the songs) take longer to unwind and are more explorative. From the sharper and more instant songs of Moloko to a woman now building new foundations and creating a new musical empire. The Guardian assessed Hairless Toys thus:
“…From the glasslike Gone Fishing to its Italo-disco and house mutations and unusual country diversions, it draws from the past but adds a crisp, modern polish; and unlike other revivalists, there’s a depth to Murphy’s vocals, as if she has experienced the freaks and fantasy of Studio 54 firsthand. Hairless Toys is pure, evocative elegance, her performance as flamboyant and fragile as the subculture she celebrates”.
Hairless Toys arrived eight years after the amazing Overpowered. That album employed more songwriters and was more Disco-influenced. The label, EMI, provided a bigger budget and, as such, Overpowered feels like a more expansive, explosive and full work – compared to what was around the mainstream at the time. Murphy is, and always has been, a maximalist who puts every corner of her heart, soul and blood into every ounce she produces. Even on Ruby Blue, her 2005 solo debut; critics were on board and knew Róisín Murphy was entering a new creative phase. This AllMusic review sums up the transition – and why people should not live in the past:
“As brilliant as Moloko could be -- on both their most eccentric and most conventionally pop moments -- their albums never quite jelled into something as uniformly great as Roisin Murphy's solo debut, Ruby Blue. By teaming up with producer Matthew Herbert, who remixed Moloko's "Sing It Back" back in the I Am Not a Doctor days, Murphy keeps the alluring sensuality and unpredictable quirks that made Moloko unique, without sounding like she's rehashing where she's already been. Both Murphy and Herbert are artists who are equally at home with the wildest and most accessible sounds (and especially when they bring those extremes together), so their reunion on Ruby Blue feels very natural, and gives the album a smoother, more organic sound than might be expected from a debut”.
I am reading what Murphy is putting out there and the struggle to get people to listen hard; get a bigger budget and have her endless hard work rewarded. She posted a video that showed, as she said, the challenge to get people engaging with genuine art and intelligent content is draining. She, like many artists, have to move on from the perception of the past and how people see them. The fact many hear the name ‘Róisín Murphy’ and instantly spring to Sing It Back/The Time Is Now shows we are either stubbornly nostalgic or less attentive in today’s market. Back in the 1990s; perhaps there were budgetary constraints and issues – one feels there were more people listening in and the scene, in many ways, has weakened. Murphy has been producing top-quality music for twenty-five years and still has to campaign to get her videos properly funded and people talking about them. With her latest video, Plaything, out there; I wonder how many of the journalists who backed and celebrated her career during the Moloko regency are throwing love and deserved plaudit her way?! The video’s story and imagery are thought-provoking and engaging; the song is classic Murphy: fulsome, nuanced movements and striking vocals; part-youthful and part-mature…the perfect song for a music scene crying out for proper depth and substance!
I hate to throw the word ‘ageism’ about but have we, in a way, become too obsessed by what we perceive as the young and trendy? Look around the music scene and every icon has to tackle that barrier. It is not only Róisín Murphy who has to face being labelled with her former moniker – so many other artists are defined by one song/album. Paul McCartney is always seen as a Beatle. That is not a bad thing but he has produced incredible solo music and did brilliant work with Wings. Look at other female artists like Tracey Thorn (formerly of Everything But the Girl) and Shirley Manson (who gave her support to Murphy following her disbelief and anger). These musicians used to be in one phase of their career, when they were part of that ‘young and cool’ demographic. I wonder, now, whether they are seen as vital and needed as they were years ago. Maybe, then, the question shouldn’t be around a single song/album: maybe artists who have been around for years/decades are being dispensed with and seen as ‘past their prime’. Record labels are less willing to part with cash; magazines and journalists are fickle and move on to the new breed – is there loyalty and trust in artists who have helped shape music and break barriers?!
I have interviewed so many artists who have been influenced by Róisín Murphy and have got where they are because of her music. The irony is, the source of that inspiration gains less affection and respect than those who are fresh and untested. Look at artists from the 1980s and 1990s – or before then – and see where they are now. To survive and have a fanbase after so many years is a feat in itself given the capricious and busy nature of modern music. So many new Popstars last only a few years, and yet, they are loaded and can do anything with music videos; every critic around features them and radio stations are scrambling over themselves to support them. Although it is not only women who face this ignorance and ageism; I was reading an article about Madonna (published in April) where she provided her experiences – and why, in her fifties, she is not allowed to be confident and sexually bold:
“The icon told The Cut in an interview about her MDNA Skin line that she "got so much flak for using sexuality as part of my creativity" and was labelled a "sexual provocateur" in the beginning of her career.
She now thinks that the challenges she endured 20 years ago are now "ludicrous."
IN THIS PHOTO: Madonna
"Why should only men be allowed to be adventurous, sexual, curious, and get to have all the fun until the day they leave this earth?" she asks.
"What I am going through now is ageism, with people putting me down or giving me a hard time because I date younger men or do things that are considered to be only the domain of younger women," explains Madonna.
The 59-year-old musician plans to keep fighting against ageism.
"Ten to 20 years from now, it's going to be normal," Madonna says of how she lives her life. "People are going to shut up."
The singer says that "by standing up to men" it's only a matter of time until certain behaviours won't be dubbed "ageist".
I am indebted to those exceptional musicians who changed my life and fostered an insatiable appetite for sound and colour. I have not abandoned them or feel they are less worthy than when they started out. Every artist, who has been around for years, that fights needlessly hard for acclaim gets my sympathy. In the case of Murphy, Madonna; McCartney (whose new album, Egypt Station, is out on 7th September) and their like; why must they have to work so hard to get people invested and stay among the chasing pack?! I wonder whether social media and modern journalism have changed music for the worse?! There is so much being thrown at us these days; perhaps we are consuming music too fast and not looking for anything healthy, healing and beneficial – too busy swallowing the tasty, easy and sweet.
It is a complicated argument but I feel the stalwarts of music should not be diminished or (be seen as) less relevant because they are not as trendy and ‘commercial’ as they once were. The reason the long-lasting artists remain is that they evolve and make endlessly arresting and impressive music – you’d think they’d have a blank cheque from labels and not have to get so frustrated. I am seeing so many musicians, established and new, who have to be their own bosses and campaign managers. They are doing endless admin and working themselves half to death to even get themselves heard. There is still the obsession for the young Popstars and what is seen as ‘cool’. I grant there are plenty of established artists who get acclaim and pomp – not as much as they should and, when you think about it; do they get as much gleeful and proud press as when they first started?! Music should be less about commercial and profit and more a meritocracy: supporting those who have lasted longer and are producing the best work. I hope the likes of Róisín Murphy are given more credibility and respect. They have earned it and I worry labels and the press are unwilling to move on from the past and back an artist once they move on and grow older. I will leave you with another exert from the i-D article: it shows Murphy talking about the Bring It Back remix and fighting the label:
“…So then I rang the label. This was all me pushing for this, by the way. Just this young bird from Sheffield that people don't necessarily listen to. Anyway, I was like 'we've got the remix, it's going to be a hit'. The record company were like 'no, we've got to do the Todd Terry version because we paid a fortune for it'. I was like 'just because it was free, doesn't mean you should ignore it'. They just wouldn't listen and I had arguments with them where I was literally lying on the ground crying going 'please!'. I was almost pulling the carpet up. They weren't having it and it was a fight that I lost. They put [the Todd Terry remix] out and it entered in the lower reaches of the top 40. So that was a disappointment, because back then you got your best shot in the charts in the first week...”.
To those labels, publishing companies and assorted others who overlook wise decisions and artists who have worked their socks off for years; realise that, if you want them to keep inspiring musicians and adding their (precious) work to the scene then…
IN THIS IMAGE: The cover of Róisín Murphy's 2007 album, Overpowered
GIVE them the passage and resources they richly deserve!