Statues (album)

Statues
Studio album by Moloko
Released 3 March 2003
Recorded 2001–02; Metropolis Studios
(London, England)
Length 57:05
Label Echo, Sony
Producer Mark Brydon
Moloko chronology
All Back to the Mine
(2001)		 Statues
(2002)		 Catalogue
(2006)
Singles from Statues
  1. "Familiar Feeling"
    Released: 17 February 2003
  2. "Forever More"
    Released: 23 June 2003
  3. "Cannot Contain This"
    Released: 2003
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
BBC Music(favourable)[2]
entertainment.ie[3]
The Guardian[4]
Resident Advisor[5]
Uncut[6]

Statues is the fourth and final studio album by the Anglo-Irish electronic duo Moloko, released on 3 March 2003 by Echo Records.

Album information

After working with live musicians on their previous album, Things to Make and Do (2000), Moloko returned to electronic territory with this album, although the previous album's organic influences remains, as seen on "Familiar Feeling" and "Over & Over".

At the time of its release, the long-term romantic partnership between group members Róisín Murphy and Mark Brydon had dissolved, setting the stage for Murphy's 2005 solo album, Ruby Blue. Statues is composed of material which describes the various emotional milestones in a romantic relationship, or rather as it comes apart. Moloko toured Europe extensively to promote the album and disbanded shortly thereafter.

Notable album tracks

"Come On" and "Statues"
"Come On" suggests the diminishing sex life of a tense pairing ("Do you remember the way we danced? I wish I could forget it"). The song "Statues" implies isolation in the absence of a distant or departed lover ("If all the statues in the world would turn to flesh [...] would they be kind enough to comfort me?"). With its evident theme of dissolving romance, Statues launched a debate among fans as to whether the songs were about the end of Brydon and Murphy's romantic relationship.[7] Murphy later commented on this on her official forum: "[A]s regards my long and fruitfull [sic] relationship with Mark, your[sic] right its[sic] all there to read in the records we made so i[sic] don't need to tell you!"[8]

"Familiar Feeling"
The opening track, "Familiar Feeling", is an upbeat remembrance stated as one lover trying to convince the other that the relationship was always meant to be, and it should not be in jeopardy because of jealousy and mistrust. The song is elaborately arranged with hints of both Latin and Irish folk music. Brydon's lyrical bass guitar playing can be heard trailing Murphy's lead vocal in the song's bridge.

"Over & Over"
The closing track, "Over & Over", assures the audience that the pairing (in the story) has indeed dissolved, and is among the most seriously stated of Moloko's love songs. It has a lyrical yet simple, winding acoustic guitar line (which echoes in the bass line) and plaintive lyrics such as "Can't imagine where you are, you are all I've ever seen". Moloko have said that they were aiming high on "Over & Over", claiming it took two weeks of work to score just the strings for it. Brydon later said, "There was no compromise with 'Over & Over'...We all felt it should be allowed to be what it is."[9]

Non-album tracks
Another track appearing to be from this period, initially titled "Emotional Bankruptcy", was retitled "Bankrupt Emotionally" for its appearance on the 2006 greatest hits collection Catalogue.

In contrast to the tragic view of love on Statues, the song "Take My Hand", a relatively upbeat love song, was an outtake. The song had a prominent brass scoring, jazz-funk bass line and wistful piano, as well as a confident multi-tracked delivery by Murphy that displays her extraordinary vocal technique. "Take My Hand" is available as a B-side to "Forever More", and was donated to War Child to help the charity raise money for children affected by war.[10]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Mark Brydon and Róisín Murphy. 

No. Title Length
1. "Familiar Feeling"   6:30
2. "Come On"   4:40
3. "Cannot Contain This"   5:39
4. "Statues"   5:23
5. "Forever More"   7:20
6. "Blow X Blow"   3:12
7. "100%"   5:12
8. "The Only Ones"   4:13
9. "I Want You"   5:05
10. "Over & Over"   9:51

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2003) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[11] 34
Austrian Albums Chart[12] 19
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[13] 1
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[14] 25
Danish Albums Chart[15] 27
Dutch Albums Chart[16] 28
Finnish Albums Chart[17] 12
French Albums Chart[18] 135
German Albums Chart[19] 12
Irish Albums Chart[20] 59
Swiss Albums Chart[21] 26
UK Albums Chart[22] 18

Certifications

Country Certification
Belgium (BEA) Gold[23]
United Kingdom (BPI) Silver[24]

Year-end charts

Chart (2003) Position
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[25] 5

References

  1. ↑ "Statues – Moloko". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 21 June 2005.
  2. ↑ Davies, Lucy (24 February 2003). "Review of Moloko – Statues". BBC Music. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  3. ↑ Lynch, Andrew (13 March 2003). "Moloko – Statues". entertainment.ie. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  4. ↑ Sweeting, Adam (28 February 2003). "Moloko: Statues". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  5. ↑ Tintin (4 March 2003). "Statues – Moloko". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  6. ↑ "Moloko – Statues". Uncut. IPC Media. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  7. ↑ Fan banter on the forum at roisinmurphy.com offers many perspectives on this release. Further points of view are represented in online reviews at Amazon.com and other such sites.
  8. ↑ "roisin, tell me, please, i've been thinking too much again". roisinmurphy.com. 16 September 2005. Archived from the original on 10 December 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2007.
  9. ↑
  10. ↑ Lai, Alex (20 February 2005). "Roots Manuva Helps Charity". Gigwise. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  11. ↑ "Moloko – Statues". Australian Recording Industry Association. Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  12. ↑ "Moloko – Statues" (in German). IFPI Austria. Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  13. ↑ "Moloko – Statues". Ultratop (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  14. ↑ "Moloko – Statues". Ultratop (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  15. ↑ "Moloko – Statues". IFPI Denmark. Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  16. ↑ "Moloko – Statues". MegaCharts (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  17. ↑ "Moloko – Statues". IFPI Finland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  18. ↑ "Moloko – Statues" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  19. ↑ "Moloko, Statues". Media Control. charts.de. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  20. ↑ "Top 75 Artist Album, Week Ending 6 March 2003". Irish Recorded Music Association. Chart-Track. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  21. ↑ "Moloko – Statues". Media Control. Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  22. ↑ "Moloko – Statues". The Official Charts Company. Chart Stats. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  23. ↑ "Gold and platinum certifications – Albums – 2003". Belgian Entertainment Association. Hung Medien. 20 September 2003. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  24. ↑ http://www.bpi.co.uk/certified-awards.aspx
  25. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten 2003" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
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