- 8
- Tracks
- 50 min
- Runtime
Not yet rated.
Be the first to rate it.
Not yet rated.
Be the first to rate it.
8 tracks · 50 min
Hairless Toys is the third solo studio album by Irish recording artist Róisín Murphy, released on 8 May 2015 by Play It Again Sam. It is Murphy's first full-length release since 2007's Overpowered. The album was nominated for the 2015 Mercury Music Prize. The announcement of the album was accompanied by a stream of the first track, "Gone Fishing", which Murphy confirmed was inspired by the 1990 documentary film Paris Is Burning. A four-minute edit of "Exploitation" was later issued as the first single, with a music video directed by Murphy herself released on 13 April 2015. Murphy commented that the song is about "selling out, manipulation and exploitation within creative work and in a relationship." Murphy later explained that the song "came from being a bit wry, a bit ironic. It's got a bit of a twinkle in its eye. It's not to be taken too seriously." Speaking about the record, Murphy wrote:
"There was a desire to make an unquestionably refined record. It’s multi layered, electronic and live instrumentation, musically it goes to places most pop music never does. It’s emotionally bare and laced with irony. I definitely didn’t set out to make something unique per-se but it really is like nothing you’ve ever heard before. So it’s impossible to describe except to say..it’s heartfelt." Murphy directed accompanying music videos for the singles "Exploitation", "Evil Eyes" and "Unputdownable". Harriet Gibsone of The Guardian found "Gone Fishing" contains "Italo-disco house mutations and unusual country diversions". Heather Phares of AllMusic stated second track and second single "Evil Eyes" has an "irresistible groove". Christopher Monk of musicOMH pointed out the "scuttling percussion, Nile Rodgers-esque guitar, atonal piano stabs" of "Exploitation", while Jim Carroll called the lead single "a track where the groove is simple and sparse, works with considerable panache." Phares noted the "synth bass and waggish backing vocals on 'Uninvited Guest'", and called "Exile" "a dreamy bit of torch twang". In her review for Pitchfork Media, Katherine St. Asaph pointed out that "Exile" is "delivered in a wearied whisper". St. Asaph judged "Unputdownable" to be "a traditional Murphy extended metaphor—lover as page-turning book", continuing on to say that "'House of Glass' delivers grand statements, often set stark against the music". Monk described "Hairless Toys (Gotta Hurt)" as a "lovely ballad" and thought "Unputdownable" to "end the album on a downer, before it transforms into something quite uplifting".
