Irish-born electronic singer-songwriter Róisín Murphy has been taking a break from music since the (admittedly long) tour following her great 2007 LP Overpowered ended. It's been a little sad for her fans (re: me) to go so many years without news of any real plans of her return. For a while there, it seemed she was content to never come back at all, after releasing a couple seemingly one-off singles. But now she's back, and it's in a most curious way: an Italian language EP, Mi Senti.
This ain't no "Leaving The City" or "You Know Me Better". Recorded by Murphy and her partner Sebastiano Properzi, the 6-track EP consists of 5 covers of classic Italian pop songs, as well as one original. This new track, "In Sintesi," is the latter. The track has a definite Italo-disco sheen to it, with Murphy more intoning at various parts throughout than she does actually produce a full-bodied vocal track. It feels like a remix to a song we have never heard. It's a most perplexing fashion to hear Murphy return to the scene, singing in a language that is not her native tongue, but the dress fits her well. Murphy has always been a chameleon, and with promises for one (or, rumor has it, possibly even two!) new albums on the way before year's end, my emotions will survive this pleasant Italian interlude.
Mi Senti is out now via Vinyl Factory.