FAVORITE ALBUM #5

#5 OVERPOWERED / ROISIN MURPHY [taste] [buy]

key tracks: overpowered / you know me better / movie star / modern timing / cry baby

i've already written about roisin murphy twice in the last six months, so if you read this blog with any sort of regularity, you'll already know what how much i adore this woman. again, it was all a bit surprising because her first album, 'ruby blue,' didn't do a whole lot for me [and apparently didn't do a lot for most people]. it just kind of meandered about and really didn't take advantage of roisin's fantastic voice.

'overpowered,' however, is the proverbial tour-de-force. these are the songs people who eat steak for breakfast and pee diamonds listen to whilst jetsetting across the world from one fashion show to the next. ok, maybe that's a stretch, but you know what i mean. at first listen, 'overpowered' might come across as too slick for its own good; but a closer listen reveals some top song songs. the beats are sick, the elastic rhythms seem to boomerang out into the cosmos, and roisin murphy--one of her generations finest voices--nails every song. for someone who never wanted a career in the music business, it's pretty darn remarkable [is it just me or is she a dead ringer for tea leoni?] but for all its sophistication, the production never collapses under its own weight. 'overpowered' is surprisingly spry, lithe affair. but most of all, it's just a lot of fun. roisin understands, maybe better than anyone else, that dance music is just as much about fun and energy as it is about artistic integrity. so here's to you, roisin.