Music reviews: Best Coast, Roisin Murphy, Oddisee
Roisin Murphy's voice is as breathlessly sultry as ever, Best Coast deliver an intensely polished, radio-friendly sound, and Oddisee raps more social commentary.
Save for the odd banging club tune and an EP sung in Italian, it’s been a long and sparse eight years since we last wallowed in the effortless, husky tones of former Moloko frontwoman Roisin Murphy.
The elegant and intriguingly titled follow-up to 2007’s Overpowered sees the Irish trip-hop diva take inspiration from the LGBT cultural movement of New York’s drag balls. Shimmery lead single Gone Fishing, Murphy’s “Broadway musical” tribute to the balls, kicks things off in soulful fashion before the electro-beat of Evil Eyes brings the sensual disco funk à la Grace Jones.
Produced with musical director Eddie Jones, Murphy’s voice has lost none of its sass. Whether it’s tackling gospel pop (Unputdownable) or jazzy down-tempo electronica (Exile), it sounds both strong and as breathlessly sultry as ever. On the slow-burning deep house of Exploitation, the album highlight that Murphy says is “about selling out, manipulation”, her seductive vocals float above layers of droning synth, as the beat threatens to take it further into a pumping house track.
A most welcome return.