Review: Peter Murphy - Ninth

Peter Murphy Ninth [Nettwerk; 2011]

by Francesca McCaffery

Who doesn’t remember watching David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve, the original Twilght-ers, sinking their fangs into Anne Magnuson at the beginning of The Hunger, to the sensual, lightly pounding thrum of Bauhaus’ “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” crooning in the background?

It’s not easy keeping the old-school goth torch lit, but Peter Murphy does just that with his current album. Ninth is grown up, sleek and twisty, and just a little bit goth-wonky; as in, if you were at a grown-up cocktail party and this came on, it would feel strange yet somehow in correct company, just right. Murphy still sort of croons with his plaintive baritone, which sometimes ascends then cascades into a brief, cosmic wail. 

On songs such as "Crème de la Crème," he gets in a lovely ballad (where his voice eerily mimics Bono’s at some strange points) but my favorites by far were “Slowdown” and “Uneven and Brittle,” truly great synthy crunchy-riffy rockers, at least for Murphy’s own Bauhaus-originated pop-Goth sensibility. “Never Fall Out” is also really, actually, quite sexy and slowly grooveable in that kind of silly Murphy-like way, and “Secret Silk Society” has that dreamy Bauhaus-era funk and sway.

“I Spit Roses,” "Seasaw Sway,” and “Velocity Bird” sound much more like good, solid, vintage Murphy--which means, that they will probably make you feel really old (but in a good way!). “Peace to Each” has a really impressive grindy-tech guitar intro, with drums following suit, and exhibits Murphy’s voice in all its nutty, register-dripping glory.

In a Rolling Stone interview last year, Murphy was speaking about his recent cameo in the latest Twilight installment. Citing author Stephanie Meyer’s inspiration for her young, female protagonist, Murphy insisted that she had christened her Bella because of the infamous Bauhaus song. He also descended like a bat from the ceiling at the opening of a recent show. Perhaps Murphy is finally satisfied with his place in the pop-rock pantheon. On Ninth, he is certainly staying true to his original goth-synth roots, which he practically alone can lay solid claim to. Or maybe, after eight records gearing up to this one, he has simply brought those roots back from the great undead.

Check out our coverage of Peter Murphy's two most recent New York City performances at J&R and the Delancey, and watch some videos (including the aforementioned opening to The Hunger) below the jump.