OFFICIAL: http://chrismurphymusic.com/
VIDEO: (“Cape Horn”) http://chrismurphymusic.com/video/
Written
by Dale Butcher, posted by blog admin
Chris
Murphy scores again with Hard Bargain, a new collection of originals recorded
in front of a live audience. His luck holds with drawing an appreciate audience
who isn’t shy about expressing their approval and respect for his performances.
It’s just Murphy alone with a violin, occasional guitar or mandolin, and a
stomp box. His voice has grown, with each successive release and added live
experience, into a fine instrument for conveying often challenging and always
thoughtful lyrical content. His violin playing, the predominant musical weapon
in his arsenal, is at or near its peak on this recording and seems akin to some
black magician with the instrument – he’s able to work within a variety of
styles with this as his primary instrument, moving across wide textures, summoning
up a number of moods. Hard Bargain is a ten song collection that will impress
his longtime followers and, undoubtedly, make countless new converts to his
artistic vision.
“Caves
of Killala” begins Hard Bargain in a grand way with its long, expansive
melodies suggestive of rolling green mountains, windswept beaches, a musical
topography of lush color that engages listeners from the first. This is the
closest the album comes to an outright instrumental and it is only in the
second half when Murphy provides any vocals at all. The second song and title
track is much leaner and traditional in scope. The song’s changes and lyrical
content may seem, in some respects, as quite predictable, but it isn’t a black
mark against the song’s value. “Hard Bargain”, instead, pleases exactly because
of that predictability. These are stalwart changes and those familiar with this
kind of music will appreciate the skill and individuality Murphy brings to the
formula. It’s ideally streamlined, as well, for commercial success and has a
clearly defined chorus that may surprise you with its catchiness.
“Bugs
Salcido” is one of the definite high points on Hard Bargain. Murphy unleashes a
mid-tempo verbal fusillade at listeners anchored by the death of the song’s
title character and the song clearly presents itself as a struggle to
understand what happened and how to process its reality. The near-skeletal
music flows quite easily but packs the condensed power of a clinched fist. “Last
Bridge” is another peak point on Hard Bargain and for very different reasons.
There’s a certain amount of reliance on cliché, but Murphy owns those clichés with
such unabashed energy that you are willing to forgive him this most miniscule
of excesses. He delivers the vocal with an impassioned bellow that puts over its
desperation without ever sounding overwrought. The same tastefulness is turned
to good use on the album’s finale “Friend”. When Murphy grounds his songwriting
in the quantifiable details and connections of our every day lives, he speaks
with such straight forward, heart rendering eloquence that listeners can’t turn
away. Hard Bargain is an album all but impossible to turn away from once you
begin experiencing its strengths. Chris Murphy is a force of musical nature and
gathers more steam with each new release.
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