LIVE AT LOCH LOMOND
backless dress with a microscopically small pork pie hat. A sequinned black body sock topped off by a feather boa. Spray-on Lycra and a red ‘Allo ‘Allo beret. Pop chameleon and ex-Moloko frontwoman Roisin Murphy knows a thing or two about killer combinations. When it comes to picking out eccentric, androgynous or eye-rollineg aloof outfits for her concerts and videos, she knows that when it’s done right — maybe topping off a three-piece suit with a 50s fur stole or some ankle-snapping 70s wedges — the finished article will be greater than the sum of its parts. That eye for a perfect fashion match has come in handy during her music career. ‘l’m a collaborator, there’s no question,” says the
County Wicklow-born girl, in her strong lrish
accent. She‘s at home on a break between ' like
playing giant summer festivals Benicassim, The Big Chill and Live at Loch Lomond, and has found time to blether on the phone. ‘I’m a born gaffer, as Mark (Brydon, her former boyfriend, and other half in Moloko) used to always remind me, but I love
10 THE LIST 31 Jul-7 Aug 2008
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Roisin Murphy may be the fashion
collaborating — whether it’s on a video. a photo shoot or an album. The more I have to organise. the better really.‘
As someone who once claimed to bring out the creativity in the men around her. some of her most memorable, and lovably off-kilter work has come from clever pairings. First it was her and Brydon. taking the piss one drunken night. They‘d met in a club that evening. and she chatted him up with the line, ‘Do you like my tight sweater‘?’ A few hours later they were back at his studio, and Murphy was coyly purring it into a mic. The line became the title of their debut album. During their eight-year partnership they created a string of electronic dancefloor fillers. full of bleepy synths and throbbing bass. including the theatrically vocalled, ‘The Time is Now’ and ‘Forever More‘ and their over-played Ibiza anthem, ‘Sing It Back’.
But it was Murphy’s inspired decision to work with experimental electronica maverick, Matthew Herbert that produced a career high. Their album, Ruby Blue, came after she’d split — both romantically and professionally — from
A-list's darling, but she's also responsible for a decade of glorious pop nuggets. Claire Sawers talks to her about her sartorial flair and equally spectacular back catalogue
Brydon and re-launched herself as a solo artist. With Herbert on production duties, and Murphy bending her ice-cold deadpan, or at other times honey-dripping. come-to-bed voice around his glitchy, twitchy beats. it was one of 2005‘s more complex pop gems.
Moody disco tracks like ‘Sow Into You’ and ‘If We’re in Love’ were also a perfect showcase for another of Murphy’s special skills — dancing. Imagine a jerky. jelly-legged style. then throw in some cocky strutting and bendy body—popping. and you‘re probably almost there. ‘l can't help myself.‘ laughs Murphy. ‘I love it. and I think it‘s very important to dance. It‘s such a human thing to interact with music. and lose yourself. It‘s good for you too.‘
Crowds at Live at Loch Lomond can expect to see some of her robotic shape-throwing when she headlines the main stage, no doubt in one of her trademark quirky but sexed-up outfits. ‘I love that tension when I perform live. of being glamorous on one hand, but then losing it completely on the other.‘ And before all this talk of catchy disco choruses and a