Take Her Up to Monto

Background

Take Her Up to Monto was recorded during the same sessions as Murphy's 2015 album Hairless Toys, and included producer and longtime collaborator Eddie Stevens. The title is derived from an Irish folk song of the same name, popularised by The Dubliners in the 1960s, which Murphy's father sang to her as a child. Monto is the nickname of Dublin's old red-light district.

The album's release was preceded by two tracks, "Mastermind" and "Ten Miles High", as well as Murphy's self-directed video for the latter, which was filmed in London. Comparing the album with its predecessor, Murphy stated that "the visual language has changed. Less reference, a more aggressively modern aesthetic. It's about the London that I live in, it's a lot about architecture, it's about building and the future coming, its about here! It's a bit fizzier and more present tense, irreverent, with guerilla filming, montage and crazy shit. I hope it's a realism that makes you feel good about being alive."

Critical reception

Take Her Up to Monto received generally positive reviews from critics. Mixmag described the album as "another reminder of why [Murphy] has more charm, chutzpah and ideas than most of her peers put together," calling it "a complex and endlessly enjoyable record." NOW described it as "an album of extremes, following its own wandering logic," suggesting "it feels as though she wants to see how much she can reduce her theatrical pop image into something small and seemingly impermanent." In Exclaim!, Anna Alger wrote "Her songs on this record often feel like symphonies, with multiple movements evolving throughout a five-to-seven-minute period."

Track listing

All tracks written by Róisín Murphy and Eddie Stevens.

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic.