The Singles Jukebox

So I’m hearing there’s a guitar solo…

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[6.00]

Alfred Soto: With Overpowered safely established as one of the best diva-pop albums of the last ten years, Murphy goes one better on this new single: hiding the beat instead of projecting through it. And what a beat: its taffy-like consistency stretches at times to echo “Bizarre Love Triangle” and a dozen Belgian house records of the early nineties.
[7]

Renato Pagnani: I figured this would happen. After Overpowered flopped (by industry standards), it only made sense that Murphy would abandon all pop star ambition and return to the more insular art-house aesthetic that she and Matthew Herbert explored on 2005’s Ruby Blue. Which isn’t to say that “Orally Fixated” doesn’t sound like something that might hit the charts, but rather that the charts aren’t its primary concern — that would be the dancefloor. As a songwriter, Murphy excels at melding economy with depth; her songs often contain little jokes or extended bits of wordplay, and she’s just as effective here. This time it’s infidelity masked as oral sex jokes: “Baby, you’re orally fixated/ You’ve got to give your mouth a rest/ So greedy, I wish you could’ve waited/ But you just love to stuff your face”. Perhaps the biggest hint that global domination isn’t the target is that instead of being the center of attention, Róisín is buried deeper in the mix, amongst warehouse drums, restless synth washes, and glitchy imperfections. The melody isn’t the strongest thing she’s done, and the guitar solo is terrible (read: awesome), but as a whole this does the trick.
[7]

Alex Macpherson: In a year when a conveyor belt of electropop females have attempted to don self-consciously quirky mantles to compensate for their limited artistry and vision, Róisín Murphy stands virtually alone as an example of an eccentric auteur who genuinely seems to be in a lane of her own. Instead of proclaiming her wackiness from the rooftops, she quietly goes about her unpredictable, restless way — here, emerging in the eighth month of her pregnancy with a deeply odd Prince pastiche about breast-feeding (and tantalising promises of UK funky experiments and Donae’o collaborations to come). Alice in Wonderland commands set the scene of “Orally Fixated” before the song plunges down a rabbit hole along a swerving, ferociously funky rhythm, never quite settling into a comfortable groove, towards a climax of an extended guitar solo. Curiouser and curiouser.
[8]

Edward Okulicz: Roisin pretends she’s some kind of Eurodisco Prince and yowls and purrs to no avail as she gets completely swallowed by an avalanche of bleeps and beats that sound like an 80s slow-jam played at 78 rpm. Utterly hideous, and from someone who’s not just capable of better, but smarter too.
[1]

Matt Cibula: I always liked her tight sweater, and even more now that she’s turning herself into a dirty-jokin’ techno version of Sheila E. Editing and production are XLNT.
[8]

Iain Mew: Never standing still for long enough to second guess, the constantly shifting sounds here make for a fascinating journey. The staccato innuendo comes off as a bit of an afterthought though, leaving all the distorted drum sounds and bizarrely effective guitar solo as the main reasons to take the trip more than once.
[7]

Ian Mathers: So what was with that awful butt-rock guitar solo at the end? I’ve liked Murphy’s work in the past, but the production here seems chintzy and one-note next to what I’m used to from her, and the lyrics are far too on the nose. It’s one thing to ditch all the subtlety and nuance from your work; if you’ve got the right kind of track, it can work wonders for you. But “Orally Fixated” is not the right kind of track.
[4]

Jonathan Bradley: I can get behind the fidgety synths and skipping rhythms, even if it doesn’t actually develop any momentum; this tune pouts and loiters like a teenager at the mall. And — can you believe? — it does this for four and a half minutes. But Murphy has no presence whatsoever, and her wispy gasping is a handy reminder as to why the words “disco” and “diva” are such a natural combination. If this had been the Basement Jaxx tune it clearly wants to be, that pair would have at least had the good grace to find a guest with a bit of gusto to perform the vocal.
[4]

Martin Skidmore: I like the sinewy, dark beats on this, but she seems to be having a struggle singing over them, as if the rhythm isn’t what she wants to sing. I don’t mind her voice, but it’s never interested me either, and the awkward vocal here is unappealing. It also has a really nasty rawk guitar break, for some reason.
[5]

Chuck Eddy: Not that I would’ve made the connection myself (it’d need goofy Belgian industrial accents to do that), but I hear the Belgian new-beat that’s been claimed for this weird rhythm track more than I do in Lady Gaga’s rhythm tracks, where I’ve also heard people claim its presence. But this is yet another dance record that’d benefit from Gaga’s fucked-up personality. Not to mention from goofy Belgian industrial accents. I do like when that chintzy guitar solo enters, however.
[6]

Rodney J. Greene: This would have blown my head clear to Nebraska if I’d heard it a few years back. It’s more focused on IDM-ish sound design fetishization than a memorable tune or irresistable beat, but it comes just near enough to having those things that Roisin can get away with her indulgences.
[7]

Alex Ostroff: The bubbling and twisting beat of “Orally Fixated” twines its way around your brain in the best way possible, growing slowly before exploding in the chorus and then dropping out altogether. Some might complain that it saps the track of momentum, but it reminds me of a DJ so pleased with a trick she’s just pulled that she has no choice but to run it back and do it again. The oral sex jokes would wear thin, but Roisin’s delivery in the verses is both coy enough and salacious enough to hold it together. Unfortunately, the slinky and sexy verses are succeeded by a chorus verging on obnoxiously upbeat, and a guitar solo better left unmentioned.
[6]

Additional Scores

Kat Stevens: [7]
Keane Tzong: [7]