RÓISÍN MURPHY

http://i.imgur.com/5qETyon.png

http://www.idolator.com/7577225/roisin-murphy-announces-new-album-and-live-shows-coming-soon

The Mi Senti EP was cool, yes, but I am unbelievably hyped for a new LP.

*punches air*

2015 is sure making up for 2014 isn't it

So excited for this. Can't believe Overpowered is almost eight years old!

Was hoping she'd sneak into the Top 77 tracks but it looks extremely unlikely now.

Excited for the album though

New track out and album announced:

http://pitchfork.com/news/58494-roisin-murphy-announces-hairless-toys-lp-shares-gone-fishing/

― daavid, Monday, February 16, 2015 4:10 PM (1 hour ago)

http://i.imgur.com/ym6Fsxp.jpg

01 Gone Fishing
02 Evil Eyes
03 Exploitation
04 Uninvited Guest
05 Exile
06 House of Glass
07 Hairless Toys (Gotta Hurt)
08 Unputdownable

Eight songs seems like not a lot after such a long wait, but maybe (I hope?) they're eight REALLY GOOD songs. "Gone Fishing" portends good things imo.

It's getting better with every listen. It may be my favorite song of the year so far.

It really is so good.

I especially love the pitch-shifting 'strings'

Just listened to it three times in a row, agree with daavid it's probably the best thing I've heard so far this year.

the songs are long - "Exploitation" cracks nine minutes acc to itunes

Anyway this song is great!

Going Fishing travels so many places in six minutes. I typically have "long-song ADD" but I sort of trust her to not let me down in this regard.

I like that it works out she's spent one year per song on this new album. Judging by Gone Fishing this album is going to be worth the wait.

http://www.factmag.com/2015/02/23/roisin-murphy-release-jealousy-12-crosstown-rebels/

"Ahead of Hairless Toys, her first solo album in eight years, Róisín Murphy has recorded a club-focused 12″ for Damian Lazarus’ Crosstown Rebels label."

There's not really much to the "house mix," a youtube of which is embedded at that link, but I'm quite interested in hearing the "disco mix".

somehow only just heard "jealousy" - it's amazing, both mixes, actually much more so than "gone fishing" which underwhelmed a bit in the end

And here's Exploitation... http://pitchfork.com/news/58951-roisin-murphy-shares-exploitation/

Don't know if it's amazing or insane. Or both.

Murphy occupies a unique position, the gay diva with a library, reclining before floor-to-ceiling shelves in interviews. Shes a nutter but she's our nutter.

I've probably said that about the Unabomber on other forums.

I'm a softer being.

(comma, after momentary sobriety), now.

I want to like the disco mix of "Jealousy" but hearing the sampled guitar from Ahzz's "New York's Moving" without the synths is killing me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud2epRXRFmU

The album is out there now. It's really beautiful.

oooh yes!

I'm still absorbing it but there are definitely a bunch of OMFG moments

Video for "Exploitation"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjSwFsPCeJ4#t=143

that video makes me want a boiled egg

album version is too long though (maybe)

this bangs and is weird

i.e. in character

I can't unsee Dolores O'Riordan.

i really don't know what i think of the album yet but it feels like she's tiptoeing around the concept somewhat. which she should, to be fair, because it's a minefield, but it ends up so careful. some very impressive moments w/r/t structure, arrangements etc but she never goes for it at any point? when "jealousy" comes on afterwards it feels a billion times more alive.

think the restraint contributes to the anxiety and tension kinda running unbrokenly through the whole record

"jealousy" is great obv but a different thing

re: the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLoyu9PcmBc

think the restraint contributes to the anxiety and tension kinda running unbrokenly through the whole record

i think it comes at the expense of any real emotional pull tbh. it's a very tasteful and accomplished concept album but it feels like RM knew that the entire thing had to be handled with care - straight white woman makes album explicitly and entirely about gay black men's experiences, how could it possibly go wrong - and it ended up a touch too sensitive, maybe. idk, i'm still getting to grips with it but i'm not exactly drawn to put it on much, and when i do i find myself appreciating it on a head level way more than on a heart level.

haven't yet seen an interview with her, would have pitched but it's not as if i know a huge amount about the paris is burning era either, lol

I was about to ask: where are you getting the info about the album? I'd love to read it.

the initial press bumpf i presume, not any in-depth feature

yeah the press release she wrote:

This song was written after I watched the documentary film Paris Is Burning, having read an article which referenced it in a discussion about House music's origins in black, gay culture. I was deeply moved by this film. 'I had to run this far from home' - it's about the outcasts who could never fit into mainstream society and how they created a safe place in the drag 'Ball' scene of New York in the ‘80s. 'Will we live on? The children of La Beija' refers to the 'house' of Pepper La Beija, who was one of the most notable figures on the scene, Pepper is also quoted in Malcolm McLaren's song on the same subject 'Deep In Vogue'. The culture was a flamboyant reaction to persecution and disillusionment, the imagination and bravery of these kids is simply awe-inspiring. I envisioned 'Gone Fishing' almost as a song from a Broadway musical version of this story. The making of one's own world, a safer world and the creation of a new, better family in music or youth culture is a theme I touch upon elsewhere on my album Hairless Toys.

straight white woman makes album explicitly and entirely about gay black men's experiences

afaict this only applies to "gone fishing"

i haven't studied the lyrics or anything but she seems to return to those themes pretty consistently throughout

hm well neither have i tbh

also it feels very weird at a time when the ballroom scene seems so healthy for RM to reference it so explicitly as an influence but not go anywhere near it sonically

Murphy's seems to have been adopted by the transgenderqueer (etc., I don't keep up) community for a while.

's (Video is one of several unofficial fan videos for "Simulation" featuring trangender peeps - parts might be unsafe for some workplaces)

i feel like the new record is kind of a sister (or cousin) to last year's mr twin sister album

Hmm, hadn't thought about that, but makes sense on the surface.

I'm definitely a fan of the straightforwardness of Overpowered. This one takes more dedication to love, like Ruby Blue did imo.

been listening to this a lot lately and came across a track-by-track where she basically confirms that only "gone fishing" is about balling, the rest is about her strange interior life. was surprised to find out "exploitation" is literally about sex but in retrospect it's obvious

anyway this is still one of my favorite records of the year, though it makes more sense as a follow up to ruby blue than overpowered. "unputdownable" prob one of my favorite love songs of all time at this point

Our potential mumsnet folk are too busy shilling MLMs to be real posters.

RM not British of course

And neither is Linehan.

They're all citizens of Rowlandia

It seems a bit weird to be as flippant as that "Every little helps" comment given her fan base [prior to her original comment].

All very disappointing but can't help but hear the lyrics 'your data, my data/ the chromosomes match /exact as in matter/ a matter of fact' differently and chuckle. Glinner collecting Róisín into his roster like a collectible TERF barbie is not something I had on my bingo card, but somehow not really surprised

Literally every time, anytime someone makes a comment regarding trans people that feels a little weird or off they end up being full fledged bigots

More of this please

https://ra.co/news/83860

when you're too awful for Turkey it's time to pack it in

The woke mind virus has infected Turkey.

It's not a paradise of LGBTQ rights, but Turkey is better on this than you might assume. For example, they legalized same-sex sex 125 years before Ireland and granted the right to change your legal gender in 1988 (it was 2015 in Ireland)

Roisin Murphy joined the #199DaysLaterMarch in London to demand the government adhere to the Supreme Court's ruling on Single Sex Spaces.

Wonderful to meet you @roisinmurphy ❤️‍🔥#199DaysLater #TickTock pic.twitter.com/lOQWofgMOL

— #199 Days Later (@acts_grassroots) November 1, 2025

morbidly curious to how awful her next album will be and what it will sound like

Who will produce it? Diplo?

Graham Linehan.

I'm trying to think of other noteworthy TERFs in music and I'm coming up empty

Nick Cave. I don’t actually know if he’s a TERF but it would fit in with his persona these days.

there's a bunch of other brits who've been pretty vocally transphobic on twitter, though this was mostly years ago now - francis macdonald from teenage fanclub, tracyanne cambpell from camera obscura and craig potter from elbow are the ones that immediately come to mind. none have experienced the same sort of severe backlash as murphy because they're all lower profile (who really cares about what the keyboard player from elbow thinks about anything?), didn't have the same sort of heavily queer fanbase & don't have main character syndrome.

cave is a dumbass but he's not outright reactionary, just committed to "i disagree with you but i will defend your right to say it" to an extreme degree which leads him to some very dumb positions. he's been vocally pro-trans, though i'm sure if pressed would say some nonsense about how he disagrees with hate but trying to censor or cancel transphobes just makes things worse.

I thought I remembered there being some kind of TERF dust up with Camera Obscura, but when I went looking for it I couldn't find anything—like it had been scrubbed from the entire internet. Thanks for putting a name on it.

(who really cares about what the keyboard player from elbow thinks about anything?)

I thought I remembered there being some kind of TERF dust up with Camera Obscura, but when I went looking for it I couldn't find anything—like it had been scrubbed from the entire internet.

this was all on twitter like 5 or 6 years ago and she deleted the tweets years ago. no idea if her views have changed at all since then but she's largely kept quiet rather than publicly tripling down

Imagine trying to be Murphy's press manager right now. "I really don't think this is a good idea, you said you were just going to keep quiet on the issue"

kinda feel like she's just gunning for some right-wing music talking head press rep at this point. a comically, needlessly cooked career.

Whatever happened to Ariel Pink?

He's touring. Performs in Berkeley of all places in a couple days

She has really weathered it until now. Headlined a big festival in Dublin this year i think. Most people don't even become aware of this stuff even if they would disagree with her bigotry. Most people are also very complacent. Still, it feels like being a transphobe is far more damaging to her brand than it would be to e.g. the guy who makes blurry, queasy and formerly buzzy indie pop.

Yeah, Ariel Pink had a troll element baked in. People expected better of Murphy.

Find it mad that while it would never be entirely forgotten, but she could have at least tried to downplay it all as a big oopsie at least for the sake of her career (as she appeared to initiallY), but she's decided to go nah fuck it, gonna get terf'd out of one's nut

Literally every time, anytime someone makes a comment regarding trans people that feels a little weird or off they end up being full fledged bigots

And frothing-at-the-mouth, can't-talk-about-any-other-subject-anymore bigots to boot. They become fixated, bring the subject up unprompted, redirect unrelated conversations so they can spew their bigotry... it's incredible, it's the ebola of brainworms. It just erupts from you in every direction once you've got it.

People expected better of Murphy.

imagine having a career built on a fanbase foundation comprised--if not completely--largely of LGBTQ people, then revealing yourself like this, then starting to use the power of the fame you achieved through this fanbase to turn on a specific, currently exceptionally vulnerable subgroup in that fanbase. and of course what happens is there are particular stans even within the fanbase who are willing to stick by her and use this as an excuse to demonize trans people. what a rancid bit off villainy.

^

Some of the very sleaziest guys are gay men.

compare and contrast

Kylie Minogue dishes to Laverne Cox during Live From E! at the 2024 GRAMMYs about her new era of music and why she's ready to fangirl on the red carpet. pic.twitter.com/lc6PFgL64H

— E! Online Asia (@eonlineasia) February 5, 2024

Some of the very sleaziest guys are gay men.

― The Luda of Suburbia (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, November 3, 2025 6:15 PM (nine minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

unaddressed pain can turn them into rabid dogs, it's true. this isn't really roisin murphy or trans related, but the hard-working, sweet and courageous bar and security workers at a local gay bar, the oldest one in town (where i dj'ed until earlier this year), have been on strike for the last month. the current owner - not a gay man, a "mama bear" with a savior complex - completely turned on them and now she's closed the bar. the staff weren't even striking for a wage increase, it was to prevent the owner from firing people at-will and to have her adequately staff events with medically trained personnel. the strike leader shared some of the text messages that the owner's gay man friends sent her and they are absolutely vile. there is a thing a lot of gay men tend to do, ime, where they take being "bitchy" or whatever as cover for all kinds of hateful, ignorant, reactionary behavior. gendered nastiness is a go-to for them.

Some of the very sleaziest guys are gay men.

I would bet that if William S. Burroughs was alive today he would be extremely transphobic.

re Camera Obscura, their bassist has been openly pro-trans, so words may have been had.

Certain people in the Glasgow indie scene have really shown their arses in the past few years over this. Either being actively GC/defending GC pals/tolerating it for an easy life. As with much UK terfery, it's often linked in with Gen X entitlement, people who think of themselves as cool arty liberals getting mad that other/younger people in the scene have better politics/aren't showing due deference to the indie overlords.

Very glad I have little to do with that stuff any more, the DIY weirdos and improv people are much sounder and musically far more interesting.

The dreadful L*st Night From Gl*sgow label is run by transphobes but have done a good job of keeping that on the DL, to the extent that I imagine many of the artists working with them probably aren't aware. However, it's telling that they put out the egregious Fat Cops, which features two transphobic centre right journalists, JKR's husband and Al Murray the Pub Landlord. Leftist shitposters couldn't make this shit up!

I would bet that if William S. Burroughs was alive today he would be extremely transphobic.

I generally don't like playing this game, but yeah--there are certain people whose hot takes on this matter we may be better for having been denied.

Burroughs was somewhat, sometimes, into gender fluidity and break down of binary norms; especially when it came to the body + total personal freedom - so i'd think he would be less likely to be TERFY than say, Kerouac

He was also super misogynistic, though; I could see him arriving at something like "Why the hell would anyone want to become a woman?"

I don't think this conversation is helpful tbh

Agreed--I should trust my initial impulse here.

re Camera Obscura, their bassist has been openly pro-trans, so words may have been had.

See, this I didn't know, and I have been boycotting them b/c TA's terfery was pretty well known in indiepop circles. Good on the bassist!

hey put out the egregious Fat Cops, which features two transphobic centre right journalists, JKR's husband and Al Murray the Pub Landlord.

What in the actual fuck is this nightmare?

Plus Bobby Bluebell. Truly some of the worst shit I've ever heard, a foul confluence of auld Scottish indie, aggro-centrist media types and crap British comedy. Fortunately they seem to have split up now the Bluebells have reformed. Their comeback music is not good, but at least it's not the FC.

The dreadful L*st Night From Gl*sgow label

I got on their PR list somehow; have no idea how. Need to fix that.

just chiming in to say “i bet this dead historical figure would have been transphobic” is a truly wacked thing to say.

I wouldn't engage in it out loud, but imagining a croaky Burroughs running commentary on our end times can be fun.

Haven’t we got enough living transphobes to discuss?

It’s just distasteful, and tbr, his concept of shlupping and moving beyond the confines of biologically determined gender kind of render the speculation rather stupid, too.

I mean, even last year's Guadagnino adaptation of Queer got that right.

Given even current transphobes have somewhat incoherent ideas which they struggle to apply with precision (e.g. one would ~expect~ "gender-critical" people to be very pro-enby, but somehow they're mostly even more offended by enbys than they claim to be by trans people) it seems particularly pointless to try to speculate on what incoherent position a long-since-dead historical figure might have taken.

one would ~expect~ "gender-critical" people to be very pro-enby

not if you read it as the transphobe equivalent of "race realist"