Thea Gilmore - Murphy's Heart
A good album we bet you've not heard yet
Review
Now, we don't often dish out the shame here at Itchy, but this time we've got to (and take a helping for ourselves, sadly). Thea Gilmore is a singer-songwriter of great talent whose witty, blues-fuelled songwriting talents have produced ten (yes, that's right: TEN) albums of very high calibre. And we're only just listening to her now. SAME ON US.
This, her latest offering, is called Murphy's Heart. We don't know why. It's a foot-stomping, hip-swinging, attitude explosion of an album that's all the more remarkable when you hear that Miss Gilmore has turned down every single major record label at least once (this woman's not for signing).
Bruce Springsteen, Martha Wainwright and Joan Baez are fans, too. With ten albums under her belt at the age of 30, I think we can safely expect Ms. Gilmore to be around for some time to come.
The first single from the album, 'You're the Radio' is a happy-as-Larry romp of a lovesong about belonging together, completing each other, and generally being abundantly, simplistically in love. And gin. Oh, and the video's an utter joy, too (as you can see, below).
'Jazz Hands' has a touch of the Chicagoes about it – tin-can percussion, incessant symbols and a chorus so sexy and memorable that, well, we're going to have to sing it for you: ”That boy's got jaaaazz hands – gonna try 'em out on me.“ What a naughty thought.
This is a brilliantly varied, self-assured, poetic album that might just propel Thea Gilmore into the stratosphere. We certainly hope so.
Helen True
