In the news episode of Flirting With Friendship—a bi-weekly podcast by electronic music visionaries and cultural provocateurs Seth Troxler and Bill Patrick—the hosts welcome Róisín Murphy, the Irish singer, songwriter, producer, model, designer, and actress best known as one half of Moloko and celebrated for her innovative albums and avant-garde style.
Following previous episodes featuring Miranda Makaroff and Pascal Moscheni, this installment continues to explore creativity through candid, unfiltered conversations.
Broadcast from Ibiza in an intimate, unpolished setting, the conversation unfolds with humor and candor as Murphy reflects on various topics, including how she chooses her musical collaborators. She insists that such decisions are never made in a record label meeting, but with people and artists who are already part of her life, her environment, and her affections, those who naturally become part of her creative process.
Perhaps that’s why, in her quest for authenticity, she insists her shows are entirely live, filled with human imperfections, tension, magic, and the energy that only an audience can bring.
The Irish artist reclaims the right to be vulnerable while still seeing herself as a strong woman and, from that place, approaches songwriting. For her, it’s not about building armor but about opening her chest just enough for the message to pass through.
She has never felt truly comfortable or as if she has “arrived,” and that state of never quite arriving is what keeps Róisín Murphy moving. Her resilience and creative consistency over more than three decades stem from that refusal to settle, even when it demands pauses and recalibrations along the way.
She rejects the homogeneity of opinions and sounds within the industry, standing as a true defender of the collective “we” that sustains any real musical movement. There’s no living scene without disagreement, humor, and a few shared understandings.
Photos / Phoebe Hono
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