Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this albumEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
SubscribeEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Digital Download
Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
Murphy's Heart, the eleventh studio offering from singer and songwriter Thea Gilmore, finds a balance between the extreme polish of 2008's Liejacker and the skeletal sound of 2006's Harpo's Ghost. Produced (again) by lead guitarist Nigel Stonier, Gilmore fills the songs on this 13-track set with the talents of 13 musicians, including horn and string players, percussionists, and keyboardists. The expanded cast reflects Gilmore's evolving songwriting and arranging skills; forms and textures have deepened and changed shapes, and the textures she and Stonier employ are more ambitious than anything she's previously attempted, but whether they touch on the perverse carnival soundscapes of Tom Waits (in "Jazz Hands") or are elegantly adorned ("Due South), they contain only what they need in order to project and illuminate her stiletto sharp -- often mischievous -- lyrics. The set opens with "This Town," introduced by a strutting Celtic blues guitar line that quickly becomes a shuffling, minor-key jazz swagger as Gilmore illustrates a physical place as femme fatale: "Hello my little train wreck, I am your worst fear/I'm a mortuary postcard, I'm a graveyard souvenir." On "Love's the Greatest Instrument of Rage," drums, dulcimers, and handclaps fuel Gilmore's spitfire delivery on what could be a drinking song, albeit one of indignation and regret: "So take this epitaph, take anything that's left/I don't want to be here come the day/I did my best you know, I tried to swim the tide/But I am just as guilty in my way...." On the lilting acoustic waltz "Automatic Blue," her protagonist observes the eternal paradox of romance: "Love is either wild frontiers, or automatic blue." "Mexico" is as lonely as its title, adorned by nylon string guitars, viola, and cello, while the album's closer "Wondrous Thing," with its Latin percussion and sparse electric six-string, underscores an early rock melody and a lyric worthy of Doc Pomus: "The moment you came/The stars didn't sing your name/And the heavens didn't shed your skin/Smallest of things/Bravest of offerings/The way that love begins." With the lithe, languid flügelhorn in the backdrop, the song enters the realm of dreams. Murphy's Heart is the work of a seasoned veteran at lofty creative peak in her craft.
© Thom Jurek /TiVo
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
From 12.49€/month
Thea Gilmore, Composer, MainArtist
© 2010 Cherry Red Records Ltd ℗ 2010 Cherry Red Records Ltd Cherry Red Records Ltd
Thea Gilmore, Composer, MainArtist
© 2010 Cherry Red Records Ltd ℗ 2010 Cherry Red Records Ltd Cherry Red Records Ltd
Thea Gilmore, Composer, MainArtist
© 2010 Cherry Red Records Ltd ℗ 2010 Cherry Red Records Ltd Cherry Red Records Ltd
Thea Gilmore, Composer, MainArtist
© 2010 Cherry Red Records Ltd ℗ 2010 Cherry Red Records Ltd Cherry Red Records Ltd
Thea Gilmore, Composer, MainArtist
© 2010 Cherry Red Records Ltd ℗ 2010 Cherry Red Records Ltd Cherry Red Records Ltd
Thea Gilmore, Composer, MainArtist
© 2010 Cherry Red Records Ltd ℗ 2010 Cherry Red Records Ltd Cherry Red Records Ltd
Thea Gilmore, Composer, MainArtist
© 2010 Cherry Red Records Ltd ℗ 2010 Cherry Red Records Ltd Cherry Red Records Ltd
Nigel Stonier, Composer - Thea Gilmore, Composer, MainArtist
© 2010 Cherry Red Records Ltd ℗ 2010 Cherry Red Records Ltd Cherry Red Records Ltd
Thea Gilmore, Composer, MainArtist
© 2010 Cherry Red Records Ltd ℗ 2010 Cherry Red Records Ltd Cherry Red Records Ltd
Thea Gilmore, Composer, MainArtist
© 2010 Cherry Red Records Ltd ℗ 2010 Cherry Red Records Ltd Cherry Red Records Ltd
Thea Gilmore, Composer, MainArtist
© 2010 Cherry Red Records Ltd ℗ 2010 Cherry Red Records Ltd Cherry Red Records Ltd
Thea Gilmore, Composer, MainArtist
© 2010 Cherry Red Records Ltd ℗ 2010 Cherry Red Records Ltd Cherry Red Records Ltd
Thea Gilmore, Composer, MainArtist
© 2010 Cherry Red Records Ltd ℗ 2010 Cherry Red Records Ltd Cherry Red Records Ltd
Album review
Murphy's Heart, the eleventh studio offering from singer and songwriter Thea Gilmore, finds a balance between the extreme polish of 2008's Liejacker and the skeletal sound of 2006's Harpo's Ghost. Produced (again) by lead guitarist Nigel Stonier, Gilmore fills the songs on this 13-track set with the talents of 13 musicians, including horn and string players, percussionists, and keyboardists. The expanded cast reflects Gilmore's evolving songwriting and arranging skills; forms and textures have deepened and changed shapes, and the textures she and Stonier employ are more ambitious than anything she's previously attempted, but whether they touch on the perverse carnival soundscapes of Tom Waits (in "Jazz Hands") or are elegantly adorned ("Due South), they contain only what they need in order to project and illuminate her stiletto sharp -- often mischievous -- lyrics. The set opens with "This Town," introduced by a strutting Celtic blues guitar line that quickly becomes a shuffling, minor-key jazz swagger as Gilmore illustrates a physical place as femme fatale: "Hello my little train wreck, I am your worst fear/I'm a mortuary postcard, I'm a graveyard souvenir." On "Love's the Greatest Instrument of Rage," drums, dulcimers, and handclaps fuel Gilmore's spitfire delivery on what could be a drinking song, albeit one of indignation and regret: "So take this epitaph, take anything that's left/I don't want to be here come the day/I did my best you know, I tried to swim the tide/But I am just as guilty in my way...." On the lilting acoustic waltz "Automatic Blue," her protagonist observes the eternal paradox of romance: "Love is either wild frontiers, or automatic blue." "Mexico" is as lonely as its title, adorned by nylon string guitars, viola, and cello, while the album's closer "Wondrous Thing," with its Latin percussion and sparse electric six-string, underscores an early rock melody and a lyric worthy of Doc Pomus: "The moment you came/The stars didn't sing your name/And the heavens didn't shed your skin/Smallest of things/Bravest of offerings/The way that love begins." With the lithe, languid flügelhorn in the backdrop, the song enters the realm of dreams. Murphy's Heart is the work of a seasoned veteran at lofty creative peak in her craft.
© Thom Jurek /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 13 track(s)
- Total length: 00:48:24
- Main artists: Thea Gilmore
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Cherry Red Records
- Genre: Pop/Rock Rock
© 2010 Cherry Red Records Ltd ℗ 2010 Cherry Red Records Ltd
Improve album informationWhy buy on Qobuz...
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalogue with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.