Every now and then I “rediscover” tracks you had forgotten you really loved, or tracks you just hadn’t learned to appreciate fully until now. Róisín Murphy is an extraordinary artist and her second album from 2007, Overpowered, is a mind-blowing performance in alternative pop music. It opens with its title track and it’s with this song that I once again have become infatuated, a few weeks ago.
It’s sheer genius. On top of a minimal crisp electro beat and a WICKED SICK minimalistic grunting synth bass she sings about… well… being infatuated. An opener, bigger space is illuminated when light synths soar the soundscape. The instrumental is a brilliant masterpiece in its own right, but hadn’t it been for the mystique and almost sexual tension in the intoxicating lyrics, Overpowered hadn’t been one of the best pop songs I’ve ever heard. I understand why the smart people of the HBT circles adore her.
When I think that I’m over you
I’m overpowered
Your data, my data
The chromosomes match
Exact as in matter
A matter of fact
These amaranth feelings
A cognitive state
Need the love object
To reciprocate
When I think that I’m over you
I’m overpowered
It’s long overdue
I’m overpowered
As science struggles on
To try to explain
Oxy-toxins flowing
Ever into my brain
A chemical reason
If reason’s your game
A chemical needing
Is there in the brain
With preprogrammed meanings
Like a little more pep
Alien feelings
We have to accept
When I think that I’m over you
I’m overpowered
It’s long overdue
I’m overpowered
As science struggles on
To try to explain
Oxy-toxins flowing
Ever into my brain