Vaguely punky in appearance, playing that surf festival thing, releasing her album exclusively on a mobile phone – if you hadn’t heard Majella Murphy, you’d guess that her music was pretty cutting edge. Well, nice it may be, but cutting edge it certainly isn’t. ‘Baby’s Broken Heart’ is immaculately presented and produced, but otherwise is a fairly standard singer-songwriter workout.
On her latest single, Majella Murphy’s vocals deliver the ballad of Mary Jones. Her voice is reminiscent of Dolores O’Riordan or Sinead O’Connor, but with more of a folky troubador sound. Keep an eye out for the Kilkenny songstress; while she released her debut, Brave New World, in 2006, Murphy’s warm sound and sweet lyrics are likely to continue winning fans in the future.
Kilkenny-born Murphy made history earlier this year when she became the first artist in the world to launch her debut album on a mobile phone. Get past the hype that surrounded her Sony-Ericsson venture however, and you’re left with a fine, subtle, independent singer-songwriter. Much in the vein of Jewel’s ‘You Were Meant For Me’, Murphy’s ‘Lunchtime’ finds her delivering cutesy lyrics which in lesser hands might have you reaching for the sick bucket. Here, they go down a treat.
