Marrying faults and qualities, Love Fame Tragedy makes of his vulnerability and errors his bright musical strength with Life Is A Killer. Review.
LIFE IS A KILLER – LOVE FAME TRAGEDY
Nice days are coming back slowly, and Murph is back with his solo project, Love Fame Tragedy. And he does so with a beautiful soundtrack. Life Is A Killer is, however, not always upbeat in its themes. Inspired by his wife Akemi Topel, and using authentic vocal notes from her, he puts his errors, not-always-just excuses, and more, into music, like on Jacknife Lee. There is the essence of life in these tracks.
The sceptical and groovy Don’t You Want To Sleep With Someone Normal raises a lot of questions about what’s being normal. But he doesn’t stop there. And he decides the whole world needs to dance as they wonder, with the oh-so-efficient Slipping Away. And how can we not fall for these groovy and rock guitars on It’s Ok To Be Shallow, an ode to temporary shallowness, times when you just let go? Comes next a ballad, deep, tender, looking for honesty: If You Don’t. Moving, it goes through its soft atmosphere. Yet, it’s also the case for the infectious pop of My Head’s In A Hurricane. It’s a talent to be able to move us through these two different vibes.
Instrument w/ voice note reveals that Akemi fears she’ll be portrayed as the villain… and it doesn’t seem like it to me. With all his questions and inner fights, Murph seems to write a long love letter, in which their roles are not so binary. Life Is A Killer is a true example of it with its shivering riffs. It’s my favourite of the record. The neon-bright Ain’t No Need To Try and the Riviera vision of Eat Fuck Sleep Forever only reinforce the love-letter idea. Maybe I Should? lays out more questions still. But here, it’s quieter as if the storm had finally passed… and it all closes on Instrumental w/o voice note. Complete and passionate, Love Fame Tragedy’s shiny pop on Life Is A Killer is spotless here.
