Róisín Murphy's Third Solo album, the first in 8 years, proves, like with fine wine, age does make you better.

Adjectives are often misused. Terms such as "Heroes" and "Patriot" are thrown around like used clothes at second-hand clothing shops. So is the word "Artist". Most people would call one who does anything presumed creative an "Artist", and maybe to an extent they are. But what is a TRUE Artist? Is it someone who just picks up a pen and writes whatever words come through their calcified Pineal Gland that everyone agrees with? Or is it someone who can put a brush to canvas and make colors look good together? Or is it someone who writes a catchy, silly love song?: In the case of musicians, an Artist would not simply be someone who writes a song, it would be someone who encompasses the highs and lows of life, the desires, and passions that we all strive for in songs we relate to on a multitude of levels.

Róisín Murphy is one of those artists. Her third solo album "Hairless Toys", is an exquisite journey of minimalist self-expression. It encompasses the power of restraint, the joy of creative freedom, and the attitude of fearlessness to carry it through.  From the very first track, “Gone Fishing” (the title alone could be mistaken as a remake of the Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong song), greets you with Roisin’s silky soft vocals, primal beats, and simplistic orchestration that makes you listen, take notice and feel all that is being expressed. It's hallucinogenic and deeply moving if you understand the inspiration for the song was the iconic LGBT movie “Paris Is Burning”. That’s just the beginning. The second song, “Evil Eyes”, and the second single from the album, is a funky mid-tempo haunting rapture of inner madness and alchemy. You’re so enthralled by what’s being said and the way the music makes you feel you just sit and listen like an attentive student in the class.

There are so many musical influences on Hairless Toys. Where it would sound like a jumbled mess or an unequal compilation of songs from other artists, Roisin with producer and long time collaborator Eddie Stevens skillfully brings the influences of Pop, Funk, Jazz, Blues, Dance, House, Country, R&B, and Gospel into a comprehensive storybook of life. Take "Exploitation", the first single from the album (and coincidentally the first-ever video directed by Roisin), complex themes are quickly brought into focus under a swift chaotic dance beat and clever lyrics steeped in the cycle of life. One careful listen exposes a multitude of layers to this song musically and lyrically. “Never underestimate creative people and the depths that they will go” flow from her lips in this song. All very poetic and nostalgic.

With the other tracks, Róisín continues to take you to dark places, highs, and lows of life in its many incarnations. Ending with the bittersweet yet joyful "Unputdownable". Undeniably the most brilliant of songs on the album, carry's you into an imaginative world of simplicity, wonder, and soulful expression." The break in the middle of the song is bliss, a pause to bring all that you’ve experienced into view, carrying you off onto clouds of emotional ecstasy. It's Róisín’s Hallelujah moment as only she could do it and does it exquisitely well.

Hairless Toys is a journey only a true Artist could take you. Roisin is Uncommon Sense, beautifully dressed, and ready to take us to that latitude where Geniuses dwell if we allow ourselves to go gracefully to that place of creative symmetry.