Simon Murphy is not your average Northern Irish artist. For a start, the sonic clichés we love to hate are not present; and while upon hearing of his country of birth we can hear something of the musical residue, the influences are subtle. ‘Not In My Name’, for example, features fiddles in a big way and it comes together with a rousing choir, but these elements are surrounded by walls of Americana with a pop sheen, as piano, acoustic guitar and drums merge into one another. Much of the album drifts between pop, soft rock, country folk and Americana, ‘Lone Star Heart’ (one of the album’s catchiest songs) drifting towards the former while ‘Here Goes Nothing’ sports a classic Heartland country rock vibe.
Born in Randalstown, County Antrim, Simon Murphy works as a psychiatric nurse during the day and at night, gets up on stage. Releasing his debut EP ‘Death of a Singer Songwriter’ in summer 2014, he set about gigging regularly around Belfast and gained support from a number of tastemakers. Now he’s gearing up to release his first full-length album ‘Let it be’ (stylized as such) on September 4, which features Kaz Hawkins on vocals, Linley Hamilton on trumpet and Anthony Toner on slide, lap steel and electric guitar, known as some of the finest musicians in Northern Ireland. The 12-track collection is full of illustrious soundscapes, well-crafted turns of phrase, big builds and infectious melodies.
‘The Life of Brian’s Son’ is driven forward by a strong drum beat that seems made for the open road, America’s highways and the radio dial, that scenario punctuated only by occasional identifiably Irish affectations in the vocal. “Let’s play pretend in a cyberspace wilderness, and don’t forget to click like and share, caught in the middle of a 6 string hipster, hashtag apocalypse, you’ve got your finger on the pulse but you’re missing the point,” he sings on the track, musing with tongue in cheek on modern day tropes. Throughout Simon has a classic but at the same time gently quirky method of storytelling, shining the brightest on tracks like love song ‘My Baby’, acoustic folk song ‘The Idiot’ (which expresses disillusionment in a relationship), and bittersweet closing ballad ‘2 Ghosts’ .
He doesn’t get complacent with mid-tempo or slower songs, however, and kicks things into a higher gear with strong opener ‘Once Upon A Time’ that is made distinctive by its use of trumpet on the hook. The same is done with ‘The Life of Brian’s Son’ in places, while empowerment anthem ‘I Have A Voice’ is an excellent duet with vocalist Kaz Hawkins, whose voice blends with Simon’s very well. ‘Evergreen’, too, stands out from the rest, picking up a much more traditional country sound that he settles into very naturally. It contrasts against the pure rock ‘n’ roll of previous track ‘I Smell A Rat’ (and when I say rock ‘n’ roll, I mean the type which includes doo wop harmonies), and the singalong Irish pop of ‘Meet Me On The Other Side’.
With all songs written by Simon and the whole project being self-released, it’s clear that he knows what he’s doing. ‘Let it be’ is a great debut, producing simple but interesting narratives and varying sounds like suit his voice well. He is an expressive vocalist, and although at times his accent and vocal style give away his heritage, spilling into what would otherwise be an Americana album, that only serves to set him apart.
I’m sure this won’t be the last we hear of Simon Murphy, whose potential for genre crossover appeal is bursting at the seams and whose songs are well-crafted to boot.
Originally posted here.
