With a gob full of toothpaste, I’m introduced to Roisin Murphy. As the handbag, hat and shoes that set off Moloko from all other contenders, Murphy is now setting her style in a new outfit all on her own. Ooooh, how it fits well.
So what’s going on – have we heard the last of Moloko?
I’m just not sure. There’s a lot that happens when people split. There’s no full stop.
Your album – is this instead of therapy?
My problem is that I’m so passionate, over passionate. It’s all the contradictions that come with it. I was spending a lot of time on my own; I had no life in London, you know, it was just necessary to make it, kind of part of a process. He (Mark Brydon – her partner and Moloko co-founder) was my best friend, the one I spoke to if I had a bad dream, or a good one for that matter. It’s like getting used to being responsible for yourself again without that. That’s what this album was about it helped me do that.
What else do you do to get it all out your system?
I have all these scrapbooks of words and phrases; it’s a visual thing. They’re there for me when I don’t know where I’m going.
How do you like your portrait on the album cover? Do you think it’s terribly vain to have such a thing hanging up?
No way, I’d never hang it up, it’s huge! I did buy it but I’ve got it for my kids so they can see what I once looked like. Simon (Henwood) was famous for doing these kind of one-dimensional portraits of teenagers. When we hooked up, he got excited about my sequins. All that glitter! I was pulling all these mad moves to make abstract shapes. He loved it.
Do you get sick of ‘yes’ men?
I’m not unilaterally told I’m brilliant; some tell me I’m a fool. My E.P’s are as close to 100% as I could get them. I think they’re astonishingly good!
Do you worry that this album doesn’t err on the side of commercial?
I don’t think about it. I didn’t make a big ‘here it is’ about it. You know, it was done in down time and that’s when things get hairy. I suppose I entered into the whole thing in a naïve way and the album was made for the sake of making it. It was just something I needed to do.
You speak about things being ‘beautifully flawed’. Can you cope with that or do you seek perfection?
I’ve felt feelings that are perfect. With actions, I like people to see the dark and the light. I can dance like a fairy and then stumble like a fool. That’s just the way it is.
What would you be doing if not this?
I'd probably be having a nervous breakdown! No, seriously, something with visual art.
So music wasn't always your first passion?
I just kind of fell into it. I was floating around between Ireland and England, met Mark and suddenly I had a recording contract. I guess it was fate.
Certainly there seems to be an air of fate about this album; it started as something that Murphy made for the sheer hell of it and it has turned out to be a delicate yet empowering triumph through the highs and lows of all-consuming love, passion and ultimately loss. This new outfit most definitely has a heart on its’ sleeve.
Ruby Blue is out in June.
Gemma Pearson