Peter Murphy drops brand new single, ‘The Artroom Wonder’
Peter Murphy (Live photo by E Gabriel Edvy)
Out today on Metropolis Records is the brand new Peter Murphy single, “The Artroom Wonder“. Justin Chancellor of Tool plays bass guitar on “The Artroom Wonder”. The single itself holds 2 tracks, the normal edit and the radio edit of “The Artroom Wonder”.
“The Artroom Wonder” is included on the new album “Silver Shade” to be released on May 9th. The single comes after the standalone single “Let The Flowers Grow” (a duet with Boy George) which was released in late 2024, and the mid-February released “Swoon“.
Peter Murphy explains the genesis of the new track as “an echo from my 4th year at senior school. Daniel Ash [former Bauhaus bandmate] and I are listening to the mysterious 6th year cool intelligentsia that have gathered in the artroom. We have dared to enter their conclave, and the music coming from it is intriguing. We discover that the song being played is [David Bowie’s] ‘The Bewlay Brothers’, highly intelligent, mystical and sensual, with the singer’s voice as seductive as anyone I’d ever heard.”
Describing his own song, he continues: “It has a surreal approach, telling the story in my typical oblique style, including the description of a lowdown that leads into an evocation of the perfected human being, the Prophet Muhammad (may peace be upon him). The final verse celebrates my own self-advancing and position on this.”
Produced by Youth (Pink Floyd, The Verve, Crowded House, as well as a member of Killing Joke, The Orb, The Firemen) at his studio in Spain, “Silver Shade” is Murphy’s tenth studio album and a – long-awaited – follow-up to “Lion”, which the pair worked on together a decade ago.
“Silver Shade” will contain both “Swoon” and “The Artroom Wonder”, the physical and Bandcamp digital formats will also include “Let The Flowers Grow” as a bonus track.
About Peter Murphy
Peter Murphy was born on July 11, 1957, in Northampton, England. He served as the lead vocalist for the post-punk band Bauhaus until the group ended in 1983. Afterward, he began a solo career that extended over several decades.
Murphy partnered with bassist Mick Karn of the band Japan in 1984 to create Dalis Car. They released one album, “The Waking Hour”, which combined both artists’ musical approaches. The project ended soon, and Murphy shifted his energy to solo work.
In 1986, Murphy issued his first solo album, “Should the World Fail to Fall Apart”. The release was a post-punk and alternative rock endeavour and featured a cover of Pere Ubu’s “Final Solution”. He followed this with “Love Hysteria” in 1988, a collaboration with songwriter Paul Statham which yielded tracks such as “All Night Long” and “Indigo Eyes”.
Murphy released his solo album “Deep” in 1989 and spawned the single “Cuts You Up”.
In the early 1990s, Murphy moved to Turkey with his wife, Beyhan, a choreographer. This relocation introduced Middle Eastern elements into his music. Albums like “Holy Smoke” (1992) and “Cascade” (1995) incorporated Turkish instrumentation into a gothic rock foundation.
The 2002 album “Dust” featured a collaboration with Turkish-Canadian composer Mercan Dede. This release moved away from Murphy’s earlier rock-focused style and delved into ambient and world music frameworks.
Murphy maintained a regular output in the 2000s. The 2004 album “Unshattered” contained pop-inflected tracks, while “Ninth” (2011) offered a more rock-oriented material. In 2014, he worked with producer Martin “Youth” Glover on “Lion”, which employed industrial and electronic textures.
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