The unmistakable Roisin Murphy (ex-Moloko) returns with her new album Hairless Toys, her first album in 8 years. Hairless Toys is a career defining tour de force. Tipping its hat to the dark disco of European house music, Casablanca Records and Grace Jones, while seamlessly taking in the freedom and organic spirit of jazz, country and gospel. The rich, expansive production – by Roisin’s long-time musical collaborator Eddie Stevens – is full of inventive loops and unlikely hooks, a grand magical spell.

The genesis of Hairless Toys lies in last year’s Mi Senti EP. A release mainly of covers, all sung in Italian, a collaboration between Roisin, her partner Sebastiano Properzi, and Eddie Stevens. This “very adult-orientated Disco”, channelling Edith Piaf through Studio 54, was a release that reminded us of Roisin’s creative free spirit with a voice and direction unmistakably her own. Murphy and Eddie Stevens, who has been Musical Director for all Roisin's live work since 1997, spent five weeks last winter holed up in Eddie’s studio, a session resulting in some thirty songs, eight of which were selected for Hairless Toys. Five intense yet liberating weeks of writing, Roisin zooming through the thinking / scribbling / singing / break / thinking / scribbling / singing / break routine for hour upon hour with Eddie adding more synths, some percussion, a bit of guitar, and editing on the fly.

Roisin Murphy found success in the duo, Moloko, with singles such as ‘Sing It Back’ and ‘The Time Is Now’. ‘Sing it Back’ was a Top 40 hit in NZ. Sonically adventurous, Hairless Toys, embraces a broad palette of genres yet is consistently engaging and thrilling throughout. An exceptional return from an outstanding artist.