Hairless Toys

A decade on from <i>Ruby Blue</i>’s avant-jazz and eight years after the glistening disco of <i>Overpowered</i>, Ireland’s abiding electropop queen stylishly retakes her throne on this sumptuous, ever-shifting third solo album. Murphy (alongside Moloko collaborator and new co-writer Eddie Stevens) isn’t afraid to hurl new ideas into an already-brimming pot, as evidenced by the spaghetti western drama of “Exile” and the escalating synth-funk atmospherics on “Exploitation”. There’s always cohesion to match the fearless sonic questing, though. And at the heart of it all–with that breathy, brittle falsetto–is Murphy’s matchless delivery.