The avalanche of album releases by new Irish talent continues unabated. Many of them are by artists who merely know how to hold a song together for a few minutes without falling off a chair, but who have really nothing new to offer. A minority, like the Kilkenny-born Majella Murphy, have a distinctive personal style and, in Murphy’s case, a warmth and a conviction that wins you over from bar one.
On her debut album, she comes on like a one-woman Indigo Girl with a bunch of charming original songs. She has the audacity to take on The Frames’ ‘Revelate’ and reveal new depths to an already classy song, although I’m puzzled by her absurdly singing it as if the word has an ‘o’ in the middle. There’s also a feistiness to ‘Mary Jones’ that reflects Murphy’s unapologetic delivery.
The opening track ‘Baby’s Broken Heart’ is more upbeat and uptempo than its title suggests, and it has an alt-country tinge that could help it go all the way. ‘Dreaming’ is a cheery and uplifting workout, and ‘Lunchtime’ is a thoughtful contemporary love song. Three acoustic live tracks prove that Murphy can cut it alone outside the studio, especially the soaring ‘A Thousand Different Ways’ and the achingly beautiful ‘I Need You’, but the unsubtle X-lab remix of ‘Dreaming’ loses the subtlety of the “straight” version.
Murphy won’t find it easy wading through the tidal wave of new Irish acts, but if she has the guts her debut indicates she has, it might be better to get out of her way, skateboard and all.