Hit Parade (Róisín Murphy album)

In a statement, Murphy expressed that the music was worked on remotely, with her in London and DJ Koze in Hamburg, over the course of several years, and "both [were] in a personal, private place when working on the songs", which "brought out a more intimate approach to the songwriting" for Murphy and allowed her to tell "this album [her] secrets", and Koze had "total freedom" and was not "distracted by [her] presence". She called the resulting album "joyful" as she has "never been happier",[7] and the music "so vibrant and alive" and "exploding with colour".[4]

Murphy was photographed by Connor Egan, who they collaborated together with Beth Frey on the colourful artwork, with Bráulio Amado serving as graphic designer.[4]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	8.3/10[8]
Metacritic	87/100[9]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Clash	9/10[10]
The Guardian	[11]
Mojo	[12]
NME	[6]
Pitchfork	8.2/10[5]
PopMatters	7/10[13]
Slant Magazine	[14]
Uncut	9/10[15]

Hit Parade received a score of 87 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on 12 critics' reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[9] Sophia McDonald of Clash called it "as colourful and playful as Róisín Murphy herself. Truly a contender for album of the year, Murphy has created an album of true musical depth that doesn't take itself too seriously",[10] and Uncut stated, "bursting with warmth and character even when nearly tweaked beyond the point of recognition, Murphy's voice has rarely had a more satisfying showcase".[15]

Mojo called the track "Fader" evidence "that [Murphy] could do out-and-out pop if the mood were ever to take her, but there are too many strange and good ideas for anything quite so prosaic".[12] Peter Piatkowski, reviewing the album for PopMatters, wrote that "there are some great moments on the record, but overall, Hit Parade is a bit inconsistent; its title is false advertising. It's a frustratingly uneven album, with just enough genius to make the mediocrity on some tracks stand out".[13]

Reviewing the album for Pitchfork, Harry Tafoya described it as "the kind of highly original pop assemblage that the Irish singer has seemingly always wanted to make, a record of peerless highs whose best and worst quality is how alienating it just so happens to be."[5] Pitchfork also granted the album's first two singles, "CooCool" and "The Universe", Best New Track status.[16][17] Jordan Bassett of NME summarised it as "a playful record imbued with a sense of mystery and occasional glimpses of autobiography, slowly revealing itself as the cracked mirror image of Róisín Machine's bruised optimism."[6]

Shaad D'Souza of The Saturday Paper wrote that "for Róisín Murphy, becoming the world's most fabulous and daringly experimental living pop star has taken a long time", calling the album "a masterclass in unfussy pop – her best record yet and maybe the album of the year".[18]

Notes

• "Spacetime" is a separate, unmixed track on the digital edition, whereas it is mixed as an intro to "Fader" on all physical editions. The deluxe vinyl version includes an additional song, "Milf Funk" (5:10) between "The Universe" and "Hurtz So Bad".[19][20]
• "CooCool" contains a sample of "Together" by Mike James Kirkland.
• "Fader" contains a sample of "Window Shopping" by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings.
• "Can't Replicate" contains a sample of "Sæglópur" by Sigur Rós.
• The physical CD/LP version available from Rough Trade includes a bonus disc featuring a live performance at the Royal Albert Hall.

• Róisín Murphy – vocals
• Laufey – vocals, production
• DJ Koze – production (all tracks), mixing (tracks 1, 2, 4–11, 13)
• Deinklang – mastering
• Philipp Hoppen – mixing (3, 12)
• Tadhg Properzi – guest vocals (6)

• Hit Parade at Discogs (list of releases)