Back then, almost 20 years ago now, Matthew “Murph” Murphy was the anxiety-riddled frontman of cartoonish indie-pop trio The Wombats, bouncing around 2007 entreating us to dancefloor catharsis in “Let’s Dance to Joy Division” where “everything is going wrong but we’re so happy!” It might have felt like a delirious but brief fling for many, but in the intervening years, and over five hit albums, Murph’s band have become TikTok sensations, Gen Z heroes, a streaming phenomenon, chart-topping arena stars.
As their sound gradually expanded in synth-rock and mainstream pop directions, laying the groundwork for modern alternative pop and becoming increasingly popular with each new generation of young pop fans (their 2015 album track “Greek Tragedy”, a viral TikTok smash several times over, has racked up around 300 million streams across its various versions alone), Murph’s confessions grew ever more visceral and cathartic.
Here, amid much rich and futuristic sonic evolution with new producer John Congleton (of Death Cab for Cutie and St Vincent fame), tracks such as “The World’s Not Out to Get Me, I Am”, the happy/sad “Gut Punch” and the fatalistic “Grim Reaper” seem to look upon Murph’s personal turmoils from a better place than before, one of acceptance of life’s ups and downs.
Gradually, we unravel Murph’s recent transformation from anxious, addiction-twisted hot mess baring his breakdowns, paranoias, romantic failures, narcotic habits and marital rows on albums such as 2022’s No 1 Fix Yourself, Not the World to the more sober and philosophical Murph we find staring out to sea contemplating existence on Oh!
The band’s 2007 debut album A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation made light indie-pop work of Murph’s anxiety issues and relationship disasters; dumped on the dancefloor, lovesick at the forest rave, betrayed on Valentine’s Day.
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