We are very pleased to premiere the video for the track ‘The Fault Was Lain There Too’ from Australian-born Berlin resident, the multi-Instrumentalist and songwriter Joshua Murphy. The track is a dark gothic tale with a velvet soft delivery and a haunting refrain. Like compatriot Nick Cave, the tone is that of a southern preacher, foreboding and apocalyptical, whispered and threatening. Murphy’s voice has the deep sonorous delivery of Leonard Cohen, the poetic timbre of Tindersticks and the ominous rumble of a gathering thunderstorm. His songwriting inhabits the same dreamy, muted world as troubadour Jo Meares, another much admired artist.
The overall sense of portentous doom seeps through the majestic lyrics:
They gathered every tale you told, and herded up the truth
Packaged it in finer clothes, and carried it to you
And with no sense of sense we’d lain, there’d be no holy truth
For with each and every blessing lain, the fault was lain there too
Murphy says of the meaning behind the lyrics:
‘The Fault Was Lain There Too‘ was written during a time of reflection regarding the restraints we place upon the ones we love. Sometimes, even though we may have the best intentions, our fear manifests into action and fault. An ugly thing that imposes itself upon those closest to us. It is about the ability to reflect on those faults and impositions, those that we all occasionally render unto others, even if perhaps unwittingly. It is ultimately about learning to recognise and free ourselves, and our loved ones, from our faults.
The result is something quite chilling in its stature and magnificence, a sense captured in the horror-tinged darkness of the accompanying video. The frame is still, the light filtered and gradually, infinitesimally brightening while a mysterious crouched figure holds the frame – barely moving. The result is something that keeps you frozen with anticipation and fully immersed as the gentle waves of guitar, piano and weeping strings propel Murphy’s voice, seeping into your darkest fears. Filmed by director Christiania Krueger and Cinematographer Adrian Angehrn, it is a haunting visualisation of fear and vulnerability that is utterly transfixing.
The track comes off Murphy’s forthcoming debut EP entitled ‘Lowlands’, due out on 2 December 2022 via label aufnahme + wiedergabe.
Written in Berlin during 2019 / 2020 and produced by Martin J Fiedler, ‘Lowland’s unites dark ceremonial tales, a narrative of somber procession, atmospheric composition and evocative storytelling. Murphy says of the EP:
I started to become very focused on Funeral music, at first, specifically Western funeral music.
I have been very exposed to this concept of artists and bands creating, and then shaping something, In the pursuit of perfecting it. Within a set or a show. Their art sometimes becoming a stagnant repetitive thing. Performed, night after night, in exactly the same way. Which is beautiful, but if one element of that perfected show isn’t working on a particular night for some reason, even for a simple reason, like a broken amp, or a missing computer, or instrument. Then none of it works. The work becomes so perfected in its form that it in a way becomes stagnant, unmoving. I wanted to work in the opposite way, only the song matters. The song can be reinterpreted by myself, and still remain the same song. The elements that accompany it, whilst they should be beautiful, and they are important on the record. They can and should be changed for live.
You can pre-order the EP through the link below.
Born and raised in outback Australia, Joshua Murphy eventually moved to Berlin and became involved into the local scene as a member of various bands, promoter and a club-owner. Though, despite the dark ceremonial emotionality that has always been associated with Berlin, “Lowlands” takes its main inspirations from Joshua’s motherland.
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