Girls' EMI muddle

Roisin Murphy and Lily Allen struggling with the instability of EMI

18 August 2008 - The former Moloko singer, who was formerly signed to EMI, is a little concerned about the changes taking place at the label.

The classic British label was recently brought out by a private equity firm, and has since been making redundancies.

Some high profile artists have also been leaving the label, only last month the Rolling Stones parted ways, signing to Universal, after more than 20 years with EMI.

Whilst in 2007, Radiohead did not re-sign with EMI and it was reported that artists including Robbie Williams and Coldplay were disgruntled with the company.

The edgy electro-popstress told 6 Music: “It’s difficult because I was on EMI, which no longer exists, so I was floating around being looked after by all sorts of different people. It’s pretty difficult not to be frightened a little bit about it.”

But she’s remaining optimistic about her future in the music industry: “At the end of the day, I’ve been around long enough, I think I’ll be around if I want to be.”

And Murphy’s not the only one to speak about the label. Today (18 August) Lily Allen has claimed problems at EMI are delaying the release of her new album.

According to a message on her Myspace page, the album has been finished for a while but she says the ‘politics’ at EMI Records have left her confused.

She writes: "Lots of people have been fired or have taken redundancy recently as the company was taken over by a private equity firm called Terra Firma.

"Many of these people were people assigned to my projects and now I don't quite know what's going on. I'm sure everyone will find their feet soon enough and I'll be able to put the album out soon.”

"I was floating around being looked after by all sorts of different people. It’s pretty difficult not to be frightened a little bit about it."
Roisin Murphy

Roisin’s next album

Speaking at 6 Music’s Summer Sundae festival on 9 August, Roisin Murphy also spoke about her new material and revealed she’s made a track for a well-known designer brand - and she says she’s certainly enjoying all the perks that go with it: “I’ve done this song Slave To Love which has been used for a Gucci advert - and I get lots of free shoes and stuff – that I did with Sage [Francis] who I wrote and produced a lot of the record Overpowered with.”

Murphy made her comeback as a solo singer with 2005’s Ruby Blue and her 2007 album Overpowered .

With the same producer on board for her third solo offering, the former Moloko frontwoman says the new song is similar to her recent material.

“It has got that feeling that Overpowered , the track’s got,” she said. “It’s really kind of sleepy, synthesised vibe and it’s cool - so hopefully people will be able to make the connection between me and it when they’re singing it in their living rooms and stuff.”

Roisin says the same synthesised vibe is also likely to set the tone for her forthcoming album: “The tracks that I did with Sage are the spine of Overpowered , and I think if what I do is expand on what I did with Overpowered , or get deeper into it - then I think those are the kinds of sounds that I’ll be making.”

Meanwhile, Roisin Murphy has just been confirmed to headline Manchester Pride on Sunday 24 August.

She’ll be taking to the stage at the Manchester Academy at 22:00.

Georgie Rogers