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Roisin Murphy Roars Into Town

Cahir O'Doherty

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Tuesday, March 10, 2009, 4:07 PM

Updated Thursday, July 23, 2009, 6:09 PM

Read more: Entertainment, Music, Pop and Rock Music, Pop Music, County Wicklow, Roisin Murphy

SHE'S a famous pop singer and a internationally respected style icon - the Gucci fashion house put at the heart of their Fashion Rocks show this year - but at heart Roisin Murphy's still a Wicklow girl who went to London and became a star.

Last week she was in New York to promote her latest album Overpowered by playing one of the most anticipated one-night-only shows on New York's calendar this year.

Critics have described her as Madonna with talent, or Amy Winehouse with her act together, and they have called her latest album so good it's unnerving.

What's amazing to Irish fans who have followed her career for over 11 years is how relatively unknown she still is in the U.S., outside a large cadre of big city hipsters and Williamsburg trendsetters.

Last week's packed concert at Mansion in Chelsea did a great deal to raise her profile here. Although she loves to write and record her albums, Murphy's true passion is performing live and seeing the music come to life in stage shows that literally dazzle.

Alongside her irresistible beats and her impressive - and sometimes completely insane - stage outfits is the electronic dance music that has made her career.

"I'm looking forward to the New York show because it will be different to the more structured European sets we've been playing," Murphy tells the Irish Voice. "There'll be more concentration on all the hits here. It'll be one big party from start to finish."

For her New York gig Murphy wore a jacket with a deer attached to it that hung around her like a dead weight, perfectly capturing the meaning of the album's title song "Overpowered" in a very unexpected way.

Ireland hasn't produced another pop star like her - ever - and she's been a trailblazer since her days as one half of the electronica dance outfit Moloko.

"Overpowered is a celebratory record," she says during her interview at New York's fashion-forward Grace Hotel. "No one else has used that term to describe it yet but that's exactly what the record is.

"Writing it was a remarkably freeing and creative period for me. I was at a point where I was writing six new songs over a few days. Working with different producers and the new perspectives they brought to it was so rewarding."

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As the Irish people have a genuine sense of fun, Irish entertainment can be found in every town, village, city and county. One of the most popular forms is the festival, which is used to celebrate all sorts of occasions &emdash; everything from literary pursuits to a love of oysters. Here are a few highlights of entertainment in Ireland throughout the year: Londonderry boasts the biggest Halloween Festival in the world with around 30,000 celebrating the ancient Celtic New Year every October. Grab a dodgy mask and join the party! / The Belfast Festival at Queen’s is Ireland’s biggest International Festival and boasts an eclectic mix of music, talks, comedy, exhibitions and film. / The Galway Races, the Rose of Tralee Festival, Puck Fair in Killorglin, and the Oul’ Lammas Fair in Ballycastle are world famous and offer a great chance to enjoy Irish entertainment, life and laughs with the locals. / Food festivals are now a big draw in Ireland with local produce scoring high among international foodies. Head to the famous oyster festivals in Clarenbridge in Galway, or Hillsborough, County Down. / Tune in to a spot of music with the Open House Festival in Belfast, the Waterford International Festival of Light Opera, or the Feile an Phobail in west Belfast. Or grab a pint and tap your feet to some cool tunes at the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival. / If you prefer your festivals small and intimate, try the harp festivals in Roscommon or the rough and ready horse and pony fairs from Cavan to Cork. Even today, the horses are priced in guineas, and bought and sold with a spit in the hand. / At the other end of the scale of entertainment in Ireland lies the Wexford Opera Festival with full-scale opera productions, concerts, recitals, talks, cabaret, fireworks, and, of course, parties. / For something a little different, try the Magnus Barelegs Festival in Downpatrick offering a slice of Viking life, or the Eagle Wing Festival in Groomsport, County Down, which celebrates Ireland’s cultural links with America. / Theater fans should head to Dublin for both the Dublin Theatre Festival and the excellent Dublin Fringe Festival, with wildly exciting performances taking place in fabulous venues. / Around March 17, the country turns a shade of green for a host of St Patrick’s Festivals. All over the country, from the Saint’s hallowed burial place in Downpatrick to the more carnival atmosphere of parades and exceptional fireworks in Dublin and Belfast. / Literary lovers should head to Dublin in June for the intriguing Bloomsday Festival, where fans of Joyce’s Gargantuan Ulysses dress up in traditional gear and scoff old Dublin food like “nutty gizzards” and “urine-soaked kidneys”. Alternatively, seek out the delights of the Aspects Literature Festival in Bangor in September, an annual celebration of Irish literature with lectures, discussion and music. But festivals are just one aspect of Irish entertainment—let's not forget about music! From impromptu sessions in your local bar to the thrilling beat of U2, Ireland has always been home to the best sounds of music. Ireland’s massive successes in the Irish entertainment world include some bands and artists you may have heard of…U2, The Corrs, Enya, Westlife, Snow Patrol, Ash, David Holmes, Van Morrison and The Thrills, to name just a few. Unique and distinctive, the harp holds a special place in Irish entertainment and has come to symbolize the harmony of people and music in Ireland. It’s the earliest musical instrument mentioned in Irish literature and has been used as an official emblem for Ireland since medieval times. Today, it’s on Irish passports and stamps. But there's more: Fleadhs, or festivals, are a major part of Irish entertainment as well as cultural life, and impromptu trad sessions have become the stuff of legend at West Belfast’s Feile an Phobail, the Galway Racing Festival or Kerry’s Puck Fair. Rock and dance music festivals are also big news with the Oxegen Festival, Tennents Vital Belfast and the Electric Picnic held in summer.

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