Roisin Murphy released one of the most critically acclaimed electronic dance music albums of all time in October 2007 – Overpowered. Her second solo album, after the dissolution of Moloko, has spawned the singles "Let Me Know," "You Know Me Better," "Movie Star," and the title track – all of which had strong club mixes and equally striking videos. Roisin calls Overpowered her disco CD and, more than a year later, it will finally get a release here in the US with a new lineup. If you are a fan of Goldfrapp, Bjork, Billie Ray Martin, or Ladyhawke, you should definitely check this one out.
DJ Ron Slomowicz: Your brilliant CD is finally making its way to the United
States. Why the delay?
Roisin Murphy: Well, you maybe know my record label has been in some
issues since I finished the record. Almost immediately, as I finished
the record, the label got brought to some judgment, and I had some
problems getting it out there in America. Thankfully, now is the
time.
RS: Nice reference to the classic Moloko single "The Time is
Now." How is the album going to be different in the US than it is
released in other countries? Are you going to be adding new songs to
it, are there going to be remixes on it?
Roisin Murphy: We may have a slightly different concept. I have this
track, "Slave to Love," which I'd done recently and I may put that on
it. That would make it a little bit different, and then I could put on
some of the B sides that you weren't able to get hold of in the US. It
would probably be a good idea to make it a little bit different, yes.
RS: A lot of people in the US know you from the So You Think You
Can Dance TV show, "Rama Lama (Bang Bang)" song. I was wondering how
did that song come about, what was the idea behind it?
Roisin Murphy: When I'm on tour, we always say if the place is full,
that it's ramalama, it's rammed, you know, rammed to the brim. So
that's how we got the ramalama. And then I just heard this dong, dong,
dong, dong, dong, dong, dah-dong, dong, and it made me think about
that phrase. We just wrote a whole song about words and sounds and
rhythm, and inside your body, what the rhythm is.
Making the cd
RS: On your CD Overpowered you worked with some amazing
musicians and producers. How did you choose the ones you worked with?
Roisin Murphy: A mixture of ways. I'd worked with Seiji (of Bugz in
the Attic) before I came to the label, actually. We tried out a few
songs before I even signed to EMI. Seiji is someone I've always
wanted to work with and I had a slight connection with. He'd done the
remix for me, so that was a natural place to start. My initial idea
with EMI, when I went to the album, was that I wanted to make this
record by working with lots and lots of different people. They
suggested some people as well along the way, like Andy Cato and
Richard X and so on … seventeen or eighteen, you know, so a real
mixture of ways.
