Stefan Murphy - Hospital Verses (2023)

Debut solo album from Dublin-born singer/songwriter Stefan Murphy y who's spent his time fronting The Sleeveens, The Mighty Stef, and Count Vaseline. On this release, he backed by members of the Sleeveens. Recorded by James Mechan at 302 Sound, and mastered by Jim Diamond. Hospital Verses may be Stefan Murphy’s debut solo full-length, but by no means we’re dealing with a new kid on the block: the Irish singer-songwriter previously performed and recorded with The Mighty Stef, Count Vaseline and The Sleeveens. That doesn’t make this new album any less majestic though. We’re presented with nine richly orchestrated indie-folk/chamber-pop pieces, in which Murphy’s dark-distinctive vocals are given the stage to shine. A beautiful cover of Alex Chilton’s All We Ever Got From Them Was Pain fits seamlessly between the eight original songs. This is not light fare, but it does add more color to autumn.