Hairless Toys

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Hairless Toys
Studio album by
Róisín Murphy
Released8 May 2015 (2015-05-08)
Recorded2014–2015
StudioClams & Clogs, RMS and Fish Factory, London
Genre
Length50:24
LabelPlay It Again Sam
ProducerEddie Stevens
Róisín Murphy chronology
Mi Senti
(2014) 		Hairless Toys
(2015) 		Take Her Up to Monto
(2016)
Singles from Hairless Toys
  1. "Exploitation"
    Released: 13 April 2015[1]
  2. "Evil Eyes"
    Released: 15 June 2015
  3. "Unputdownable"
    Released: 11 December 2015
  4. "House of Glass (Maurice Fulton Remix)"
    Released: 11 December 2015

Hairless Toys is the third solo studio album by Irish singer Róisín Murphy. It was 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 Best Irish Album of 2015 at the Choice Music Prize[2] and the 2015 Mercury Music Prize.[3] In 2016, it was awarded a silver certification from the Independent Music Companies Association, indicating sales of at least 20,000 copies throughout Europe.[4]

Background[edit]

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.[5] The album title came to be when Murphy sang the line "Careless Talk" in the title track, but her producer Eddie Stevens misheard it as "Hairless Toys".[6]

A four-minute edit[1] of "Exploitation" was later issued as the first single, with a music video directed by Murphy herself released on 13 April 2015.[7] Murphy commented that the song is about "selling out, manipulation and exploitation within creative work and in a relationship."[7] 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."[5]

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."[8]

Murphy directed accompanying music videos for the singles "Exploitation",[9] "Evil Eyes",[10] "Unputdownable" and "House of Glass".

Composition[edit]

Harriet Gibsone of The Guardian found "Gone Fishing" contains "Italo-disco [,] house mutations and unusual country diversions".[11] Heather Phares of AllMusic stated second track and second single "Evil Eyes" has an "irresistible groove".[12] Christopher Monk of musicOMH pointed out the "scuttling percussion, Nile Rodgers-esque guitar, [and] 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."[13] Phares noted the "synth bass and waggish backing vocals on 'Uninvited Guest'",[12] and called "Exile" "a dreamy bit of torch twang".[12] In her review for Pitchfork, Katherine St. Asaph pointed out that "Exile" is "delivered in a wearied whisper".[14] St. Asaph deemed "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".[14] 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".[15]

Critical reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.5/10[16]
Metacritic80/100[17]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
Drowned in Sound8/10[18]
The Guardian[11]
The Irish Times[13]
Mixmag8/10[19]
musicOMH[15]
NOW[20]
Pitchfork7.4/10[14]
The QuietusVery positive[21]
Uncut[17]

Hairless Toys received generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 80, based on 15 reviews.[17] The Quietus called the album "a complete masterwork", praising Murphy as "still some serious way ahead of her peers."[21] Pitchfork called Hairless Toys "the most cerebral work of Murphy's decades-long career" and described it as "all gleaming and immaculate from a distance, sharp and shattered if you get too close."[14] Heather Phares of AllMusic stated that the album "opts for a more personal approach that is so powerful in part because it's so quiet", declaring it "a welcome return and Murphy's most satisfying album yet".[12] Electronic Beats called the album "a decisive step forward and a definitively experimental pop record, delivered with a confidence that defies the brevity expected of chart fodder."[22]

The Guardian wrote that Hairless Toys is "pure, evocative elegance".[11] Reviewing the album for Canadian newspaper Now, Kevin Ritchie named it the album of the week, writing that it "fuses delicate, slow-burning deep-house-type rhythms with pop twang and the odd bit of glittering glam".[20] Mixmag also noted the album's integration of "elegant deep house [...] country-flecked soul, and idiosyncratic downtempo", and called it "a career high".[19] Writing for The Irish Times, Jim Carroll said the eight-year gap between albums for Murphy "has not lessened her knack for beautifully finessed tunes pulled together with sublime electropop belts and braces."[13] Writing for musicOMH, Christopher Monk wrote that the album is "less interested in snagging listeners' ears with catchy hooks or luring them on to the dancefloor, and more interested in building a strange, compelling atmosphere".[15] Drowned in Sound described the album as "a wonderfully dark and seething record" and a work to "absorb alone".[18]

Track listing[edit]

All tracks are written by Róisín Murphy and Eddie Stevens

No.TitleLength
1."Gone Fishing"5:57
2."Evil Eyes"6:42
3."Exploitation"9:23
4."Uninvited Guest"5:58
5."Exile"4:00
6."House of Glass"6:52
7."Hairless Toys (Gotta Hurt)"6:18
8."Unputdownable"5:14
Total length:50:24

Personnel[edit]

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Hairless Toys.[23]

Musicians[edit]

  • Róisín Murphy – lead vocals (all tracks); backing vocals (tracks 2, 6)
  • Eddie Stevens – keys (all tracks); bass (track 2); percussion (track 3); bottleneck guitar (track 5); additional guitar (track 6); whistle (track 4)
  • Jamie McCredie – guitar
  • Dave De Rose – drums (all tracks); ride cymbals (track 6)
  • Rob Mullarkey – bass (tracks 1, 4, 5)
  • Dan Darriba – percussion (tracks 4, 7, 8)
  • Rhianna Kenny – backing vocals (all tracks except 6)
  • Jodie Scantlebury – backing vocals (all tracks except 6)

Technical personnel[edit]

  • Mark Allaway – engineering (at Fish Factory, London)
  • Dilip Harris – engineering (at Sofa Sound, London)
  • Billy Halliday – engineering assistance (at Sofa Sound, London)
  • Darius van Helfteren – mastering (at Amsterdam Mastering, Amsterdam)
  • Hans-Jörg Maucksch – vinyl cut (at Pauler Acoustics, Northeim, Germany)
  • Eddie Stevens – production

Artwork[edit]

  • Farrow – design, art direction
  • John Ross – photography

Charts[edit]

Chart (2015) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[24] 57
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[25] 29
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[26] 12
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[27] 47
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[28] 13
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[29] 27
Irish Albums (IRMA)[30] 16
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[31] 68
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[32] 25
UK Albums (OCC)[33] 19
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[34] 2

Release history[edit]

Region Date Format Label Ref.
Australia 8 May 2015
Play It Again Sam [35]
Germany [36]
Ireland [37]
United Kingdom 11 May 2015 [38]
United States 12 May 2015 [39]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Exploitation (Single Edit) – Single by Róisín Murphy". iTunes Store (UK). 13 April 2015. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  2. ^ "2015 Shortlist | Choice Music Prize". Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  3. ^ "Mercury Prize 2015 shortlist". BBC. Archived from the original on 20 October 2015. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
  4. ^ "Independents going strong - IMPALA Sales Awards clock up another 10m units | Impala". Archived from the original on 4 March 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  5. ^ a b Alley, Jonathan. "Sitting Down with Roisin Murphy". STACK Magazine. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  6. ^ "Her Time Is Now". Business Post. 5 July 2015. ProQuest 1693516755. Retrieved 17 July 2022 – via ProQuest.
  7. ^ a b Minsker, Evan (13 April 2015). "Róisín Murphy Shares "Exploitation" Video". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 17 April 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  8. ^ Stern, Bradley (29 August 2014). "Róisín Murphy Says Her New Album Is "Like Nothing You've Ever Heard Before"". Idolator. Archived from the original on 25 June 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  9. ^ Gracie, Bianca (13 April 2015). "Roisin Murphy Releases Her "Exploitation" Video: Watch". Idolator. Archived from the original on 29 June 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  10. ^ "Watch Róisín Murphy's new video for Evil Eyes". The Guardian. 15 June 2015. Archived from the original on 21 August 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  11. ^ a b c Gibsone, Harriet (8 May 2015). "Roisin Murphy: Hairless Toys review – exquisite disco darkness". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  12. ^ a b c d e Phares, Heather. "Hairless Toys – Róisín Murphy". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 15 May 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  13. ^ a b c Carroll, Jim (8 May 2015). "Róisín Murphy: Hairless Toys | Album Review". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  14. ^ a b c d St. Asaph, Katherine (13 May 2015). "Róisín Murphy: Hairless Toys". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 5 July 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  15. ^ a b c Monk, Christopher (12 May 2015). "Róisín Murphy – Hairless Toys". musicOMH. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  16. ^ "Hairless Toys by Róisín Murphy reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  17. ^ a b c "Reviews for Hairless Toys by Róisín Murphy". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 11 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  18. ^ a b Beardsworth, Luke (12 May 2015). "Album Review: Roisin Murphy – Hairless Toys / Releases". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 15 May 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  19. ^ a b "Roisin Murphy – Reviews – Mixmag". Mixmag. Development Hell. 8 April 2015. Archived from the original on 9 May 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  20. ^ a b Ritchie, Kevin (6 May 2015). "Album of the week: Róisín Murphy". Now. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  21. ^ a b Wade, Ian (20 May 2015). "Róisín Murphy: Hairless Toys". The Quietus. Archived from the original on 29 June 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  22. ^ "This is Why Róisín Murphy Doesn't Give a Fuck Anymore". Electronic Beats. 6 July 2015. Archived from the original on 8 July 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  23. ^ Hairless Toys (liner notes). Róisín Murphy. Play It Again Sam. 2015. PIASR790CDX.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  24. ^ Ryan, Gavin (16 May 2015). "ARIA Albums: Ed Sheeran X Returns To Number 1". Noise11. Archived from the original on 19 May 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  25. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Róisín Murphy – Hairless Toys" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  26. ^ "Ultratop.be – Róisín Murphy – Hairless Toys" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  27. ^ "Ultratop.be – Róisín Murphy – Hairless Toys" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  28. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Róisín Murphy – Hairless Toys" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  29. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Róisín Murphy – Hairless Toys" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  30. ^ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 20, 2015". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  31. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Róisín Murphy – Hairless Toys". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  32. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Róisín Murphy – Hairless Toys". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  33. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  34. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  35. ^ "Hairless Toys by Róisín Murphy". iTunes Store (Australia). Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  36. ^ "Hairless Toys: Roisin Murphy". Amazon (Germany) (in German). Archived from the original on 11 May 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  37. ^ "Murphy,roisin – Hairless Toys[digi] – CD". Tower Records Ireland. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  38. ^ "Hairless Toys by Róisín Murphy". iTunes Store (UK). Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  39. ^ "Hairless Toys: Roisin Murphy". Amazon (US). Retrieved 10 May 2015.
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