I honestly can’t remember music not being around me. All of y earliest memories seem to be about music or have music in there. The first music you are subjected to of course you have no say in, but I’m so glad that it was so varied. When I started to buy music and choose what I heard I went my own way, listened to friends collections, but as an early teen the mainstream was pretty stolid. So whilst I was initially immersed in New York Punk and the Glam of the likes of Blondie, The Ramones and The Talking Heads. In the U.K. I fell into the underground, and for every Dead Boys (they were of course from the US but spend so much time in London I thought they were from the UK) and Lords of the New Church there was the darker sounds of Sisters of Mercy, The Cult and Bauhaus. But in the early to mid 80’s the UK scene was as so fertile it was impossible to keep up with, but oh so possible to fall in love with it all.
Well that was a rambling intro, so I’ll forget the middle bit and jump a few years… When Pete left Bauhaus I remember thinking ‘Should the World Fail to Fall Apart’ his solo debut was magical, ‘Love Hysteria’ sublime and ‘Deep’ a work of art. And though my tastes changed over the years I don’t think I ever have been disappointed with his records. Heck I even interviewed him and he was just as opaque as I’d hoped he’d be!
This though is the longest we’ve been without a new solo record (there were two 6 year gaps previously between ‘Cascade (1995)’ and ‘Alive Just for Love (2001)’ and also between ‘Unshattered (2004)’ and ‘Ninth (2011)’ but nothing this long, even allowing for some Bauhaus Touring and Covid… That makes the anticipation for this one all the more tantalizing.
Before we dig in, I’ll insert a snippet from the press release:
“In his solo career, Peter Murphy has released a total of 10 acclaimed solo albums, with 4 in the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart (“Love Hysteria”, “Deep”, “Holy Smoke”, “Lion”), numerous EPs, live albums, and various collaborative projects. “Deep” was a breakthrough commercial success, reaching number 44 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. The album’s second single, “Cuts You Up” sold over 250,000 copies in the U.S. in just three weeks and occupied the No. 1 position on Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks chart for 7 weeks, longer than any track had previously spent in the top spot. In 2018, Billboard named the song the 9th Greatest of All Time Alternative songs. The 2011 release of Peter’s ninth solo album, “Ninth” “was called “one of the strongest of his career” according to the LA Times. With 2014’s “Lion”, Peter began a collaboration with producer and Killing Joke bassist Martin “Youth” Glover, following up with his much-anticipated 11th studio album, set for release in 2025. In 2024, Peter created his own label, Silver Shade, to release rare live performances and previously unreleased material.”
It’s with rare anticipation that the needle hits the groove… Opener ‘Swoon’ starts with a familiar drum beat that can only be Murphy, and a casually glancing lyric that that leads to a ‘Bowiesque’ simple repeated one word chorus that cuts between building verses that simply act to paint pictures that hang in the air. It’s Murphy at his enigmatic best and a completely absorbing opener.
‘Hot Roy’ by contrast plays it with a straighter bat, straight into the verse with a compelling refrain and some wonderful guitar within.
‘Sherpa’ reminds me of those first albums, wonderfully soothing, with syncopated keys and drums, smooth vocals that yearn and reach out to you, before the chord change just drops perfectly.
I’m already convinced by the time ‘Silver Shade’ slithers into life with a sinuous guitar that leads into a throbbing verse and spikier scattered chorus. It’s just wonderful to hear and might even be my song of the year so far. It’s like stepping back in time yet bringing all the sonic benefits of the modern day with you.
‘The Artroom Wonder,’ one of five songs that clock in over 5 minutes is beautifully stepped back allowing you to focus on the simple guitar refrain and Peter’s words, as the lush orchestration sweeps in from under. This is just getting better…
The gloriously cinematic ‘Meaning Of My Life’ (I once asked Peter that question many years ago in an interview) is one of my favourites here. It’s a wonderfully grandiose that stays the right side of the ‘ostentatious line’, and has a sweeping power that could be the best Bond movie song ever, were Bond a creature of the night…
The slightly sinister ‘Xavier New Boy’ is painted opaquely with poetic glances and glimpses of scenes, that create a shoreline fog that references Murphy’s lyrics to ‘Give What He’s Got’ from 2004’s ‘Unshattered’ is another completely compelling snapshot.
There’s a more fluid swing and swoon to ‘Cochita Is Lame’ a song that takes aim at pretention as it glances over knowingly and passes cold judgement aside; before we burst into the upbeat rock and roll of ‘Soothsayer’ with it’s wonderfully ‘crisp’ lyrics and infectious beat. It’s another winner despite being the quirkiest number here.
The Spanish guitar that heralds ‘Time Waits’ is another of those cinematic soundscapes that tastes of the hills of Spain, or the sand-drenched cities of North Africa in days gone by. It brood and lurks peering into antiquity.
There’s almost a tear by the time we get to the final moment here: the beautifully rendered ‘Sailmakers Charm’ which sees Murphy at his most emotive. It’s a song that swells and grows and rises from the earth to the air emboldened by the subdued storm of gathering orchestration that allows the lyrical refrain to just rise with each repetition. It’s a masterpiece.
Murphy is one of the very few that I would level the accusation that he creates art rather than just makes music, but all these years after hearing his first words he’s lost none of the power or mystery or wonder that had me hooked in the first place. This is a record that gives so much and wakes the imagination. We need music like this in our lives to remind us that there is so much out there still to discover.
9.5 / 10
TRACKLISTING
01- Swoon
02- Hot Roy
03- Sherpa
04- Silver Shade
05- The Artroom Wonder
06- Meaning Of My Life
07- Xavier New Boy
08- Cochita Is Lame
09- Soothsayer
10- Time Waits
11- Sailmakers Charm
DISCOGRAPHY
Should the World Fail to Fall Apart (1986)
Love Hysteria (1988)
Deep (1989)
Holy Smoke (1992)
Cascade (1995)
Alive Just for Love (2001)
Dust (2002)
Unshattered (2004)
Ninth (2011)
Secret Bees of Ninth (2011)
Lion (2014)
Remixes from Lion (2015)
Wild Birds Live Tour (2015)
Bare-Boned and Sacred (2017)
Live in London (2019)
Peter Live Volume 1-Covers (2024)
Silver Shade (2025)
