Thea Gilmore – Murphy’s Heart

Getting past a second album is a pretty big achievement in the current music industry, yet Thea Gilmore surpassed this feat years ago and has just hit double figures with the release of her tenth album: Murphy’s Heart.

Having never been one to throw herself into the mainstream, Gilmore has now gotten her first single from the album, You’re The Radio, A-listed on Radio 2. She’s grateful for the attention and the song itself is very deserving of it; the lyrics speak volumes with many parallels being drawn, climaxing with the simplistic, yet powerful, ‘I’m the song, you’re the radio”. Then again, after ten albums you’d expect her to be able to pen a solid tune.

In all honesty, I’m not sure what to make of this album. It falls firmly in my ‘albums that I like but could never love’ category. Her lyrics are undoubtedly strong and her voice remains faultless throughout, but she just doesn’t have that – dare I say it – X Factor. Sure, Due South, God’s Got Nothing On You and You’re The Radio are all really impressive, but I can’t help feel that the album is let down by the likes of Wondrous Thing. Maybe I just don’t ‘get’ Gilmore’s sound, but to me some of these songs just don’t quite flow. For every standout tune, there’s another that reminds me all too much of lift music and I can’t help but wish this album was condensed into half the size.

All in all, Gilmore is clearly an accomplished artist, as is evident with her lyrics and vocals, but there are occasions when it seems as though the two together just don’t work. But then they sometimes do – producing songs of great beauty. In short, this is a marmite collection of tracks. I’ll leave it up to you to decide which songs you wouldn’t mind accompanying your breakfast!

www.theagilmore.net