Róisín Murphy Introduces 5th LP With “Something More”

Disco is really experiencing a major revival in 2020. The genre shaped Jessie Ware’s extraordinary What’s Your Pleasure?, while Kylie Minogue has dedicated an entire album to it. And then there’s electro-pop queen Róisín Murphy, who has been dipping in and out of nu-disco for decades. She got the pop world buzzing yesterday by announcing her long-awaited 5th LP, Róisín Machine, and now rolls out a sublime new single called “Something More.” Which just might be the first, eight-minute floorfiller about trying to escape the bottomless pit of need.

“A crown upon my head, ten lovers in my bed — but I want something more,” Róisín coos over Richard Barratt’s soulful groove. “A billion in the bank, titles of higher rank — but I want something more.” In many ways, the Irish auteur views the song as a snapshot of pre-COVID life. “I interpreted it as a swan-song to how we once lived,” she explains in the press release. “There’s plenty of bravado in the lyrics and the character is a kind of antihero, but the indefinable yearning and the feeling of arriving at a point of emptiness is universal right now.”

Róisín’s 5th LP drops on September 25. On the strength of “Something More” and previous singles like “Murphy’s Law” and “Incapable,” I am wholly convinced that it is going to be one of the best albums of 2020.