Father Murphy

In the early noughties, “Italian occult psychedelia” band Father Murphy initially formed remotely between the U.S.A. and China, seldom meeting for fleeting recording sessions. However, by 2008’s ...And He Told Us To Turn To The Sun the band had all returned to Italy, and their sound soon solidified into something both deeply unpredictable and blackly psychedelic. The group’s core members (and allegedly Father Murphy’s own two children), Freddie Murphy and Chiara Lee, have told the story of Father Murphy over more than half a dozen albums and EP’s, documenting a deep personal descent into turmoil.
Although the myriad influences of Beijing Opera, Joy Division, Asian folk, Arvo Pärt, Jarboe (with whom the group recently collaborated) and M. Gira’s Swans were all key to Father Murphy’s development, the church was where the group first got in touch with music.
As the Father Murphy narrative progressed, so did their increasingly strange sound world. Furiously touring for the last seven years—performing with the likes of Carla Bozulich, Deerhoof, MXLX, Xiu Xiu, Dirty Beaches, Iceage, the aforementioned Jarboe, plus many more along the way—has also kept the project fresh. Father Murphy have actively sought out fresh inputs for their music, to keep it in a state of constant change. They expanded from the psych rock tunes of Six Musicians Getting Unknown (2005) to far more sombre rituals on ...And He Told Us To Turn To The Sun (2008), the increasingly leftfield experimentation of Anyway Your Children Will Deny It (2012), Pain Is On Our Side Now (2014), and the almost theatrical Croce (2015).
Rising. A Requiem For Father Murphy, the latest and final offering from the iconic Italian occult duo, will be released next April 20th by post-punk Italian label, Avant! Records and the eclectic Philadelphia taste-makers, Ramp Local. With Rising, the legend of Father Murphy reaches its culmination. Composed in the classical requiem format, it brings an end to the recounts of the journey of the fictional character Father Murphy and subsequently to the band itself.
The release of the album will be followed by a last series of concerts/celebrations of life.

This Italian group are a cult band in every sense of the word. - THE QUIETUS
They make music that's fantastically fucked up... - EXCLAIM!
An outsider operatic hellscape that calls to mind the starkest visions of Cormac McCarthy. - THE GUARDIAN
Italian Father Murphy conjure up a funereal atmosphere somewhere between homemade Morricone and toytown Goblin... That ol' devil Dario would surely approve – THE WIRE
Impressive but nightmarish, like a beautifully rendered self-portrait splattered with blood and self-loathing. - ROCK-A-ROLLA
Like punks who secretly learned classical. - SAN FRANCISCO WEEKLY