Singing It All Back Home

When it comes to an overview of Irish popstars, for some reason we tend to overlook Moloko’s Roisin Murphy. Maybe she doesn’t exactly wear her Irishness on her sleeve – although her Arklow/Northern English hybrid accent is definitely veering towards the former today – but she certainly is a shining beacon of charisma and originality amongst a world of manufactured banality. Not that her musical background is necessarily rooted amongst the shiny happy people.

“The first band I really got into was Sonic Youth”, she explains, “then when I was 14 I got into Jesus & Mary Chain, Big Black, Dinasour Jr, Mudhoney as well as bands like My Bloody Valentine and Spacemen 3. I went to gigs in Manchester all the time when I was young, usually three times a week.”
Murphy moved across the water with her family when she was twelve. “I loved it. I didn’t have an easy time at school but I’ve never expected to have an easy time with large groups of people. I was a very strong character, even as a kid, so it was quite easy just to go ‘fuck them and make my own friends. I always liked being an outsider. I had a greater freedom. I was starting to feel a bit odd in Arklow and it was easier to get lost in a big city, for people not to notice how strange or different you were. I was quite untamed from the age of fourteen really”.
Roisin’s own journey took her to Sheffield, a chance meeting with producer Mark Brydon and the birth of Moloko. They released a fantastically quirky, weirdly funky album called Do You Like My Tight Sweater? in 1995 and immediately found themselves lumped in with the flourishing trip-hop scene. Not a good thing according to the singer. “It wasn’t very good for us. Everything else that was branded trip-hop was very, very serious and very earnest. We were next to all these fucking bleeding hearts jumping around and being experimental. It just didn’t tally. We’ve always been closer to new wave bands because we have that essential freedom”.
Timing was to play another essential factor in the breakthrough of ‘Sing It Back’, with an unsolicited remix taking root in the Ibiza club scene and propelling the duo up the charts for the first time. “From the moment I heard it I knew it was going to be absolutely massive, I could see myself on Top Of The Pops”. The success ushered in a whole raft of new experiences and influences that the pair have continued to integrate into their music, as seen on new album Statues. “I got into soul music in a big way, which was a big influence. We’ve tried to expand the focus that we found on ‘The Time Is Now’. We like to take challenges on”.
While upcoming gigs will see Roisin back in Ireland with band in tow for the second time this year, she is certainly no stranger. “I try to get back every six weeks or so. I don’t see much of the change, I go straight to Arklow. I don’t hang out in Dublin. I actually don’t know much about Ireland, I know about Arklow and that’s it. Maybe if I lived there I’d know more”. Perversely, she has a greater concept of how Ireland is viewed in the rest of the world. “It’s changing a little bit but anybody would be lucky to be Irish if they’re travelling the world”. She has, however, got a little insight on Bertie Ahern’s swift journey from hero to zero. “That’s the Irish psyche”, she laughs, “we love a good jeer”.

Statues is out now on Echo Records. Moloko play Trinity, Limerick (October 28) and Olympia Theatre, Dublin (29)0