Over the past year, while many of us largely stayed holed up at home amid the pandemic, several of our most trusted titans of music supplied us with essential, escapist collections designed for the (hypothetical) dance floor.
Róisín Murphy, certainly, was one of our lockdown saviors, thanks to her sweaty, sexy and reliably bonkers Róisín Machine, released in October.
And now that those days of twirling and flirting at the club don’t seem quite so far off anymore (thank God – get your vaccines if you can, everyone), there’s no doubt that those records are going to be in heavy rotation to make up for lost time.
Of course, the ever-impatient Róisín has already moved on past last year’s original project – she wants “Something More,” remember? – with a new take on the tracks, in the form of Crooked Machine, out digitally on April 30, with a vinyl version to come as part of Record Store Day on June 11.
The reinterpretation of her 2020 record was crafted alongside producer Crooked Man, AKA DJ Parrot: “If Róisín Machine was the big night out…this is the afterparty where things get darker and more twisted,” the press release declares.
The lead single from the reimagining – “Assimilation,” a sultry makeover of “Simulation” – certainly fits the description, playing like the late night comedown version of the endlessly hypnotic, now decade-old (!) tune.
The album was inspired by albums such as the Gwen Guthrie’s Padlock, Imagination’s Night Dubbing and Love & Dancing by The Human League, and like the original album, is intended to be a continuous listening experience.
“Parrot doesn’t try to be ‘cool,’ I reckon that’s the last thing on his mind. He makes music with a real sense of responsibility to the craft. He just cannot make rubbish music, he’d be too ashamed. So everything he is and everything he has learned, is put into everything he does. I think Crooked Machine is one of his greatest achievements so far. I left him and Fat Dave to their own devices on this and they have outdone themselves! I absolutely love it!! I think I prefer it to the original album, slightly less me and all the more ‘cool’ for it!” Róisín says of the release.
The album’s tracklist is also a clever, playful remake of the original, with new mashed-up titles like “Kingdom of Machines,” “We Are the Law” and “Crooked Madame.”
It all sounds very promising, and will hopefully help to soundtrack a far less socially distanced summer.
Róisín Machine is available now as a double vinyl.
Crooked Machine tracklist
1. Kingdom Of Machines
2. Echo Returns
3. Capable Rhythm
4. Assimilation
5. Crooked Madame
6. Less Is More
7. Name Changer
8. We Are The Law
9. Hardcore Jealousy
