Live Review: Nick Murphy - O2 Brixton Academy, London 22/10/2019
The infamous artist formerly known as Chet Faker aka Nick Murphy is a musical powerhouse, his eclectic mix of dreamy guitars and haunting synths resonate in such a unique way, unlike anything before. Closing a world tour with a few shows across the UK, no doubt we had to witness what he was going to bring to London…
As the house lights slowly came up, the man himself gradually built up the layers of sound using his guitar and synth pads (as well as his accompanying band) until he broke into the first track off his debut album as Nick Murphy ‘Hear It Now’ which the crowd seemed to agree was the perfect start to this evenings performance. This was closely followed by older hit ‘Gold’ which got a cheer from the audience, as did ‘1998’ with its iconic chords and booming drums.
Nick perfectly entwined older Chet Faker songs with his newer material throughout the rest of the set, from the likes of indie-jazz banger ‘Yeah I Care’ to one of his biggest early hits ‘Talk Is Cheap’ which he encouraged the whole crowd to sing their hearts out. Nick’s voice was sounding so dreamy as it filled the gigantic Brixton academy, you could mistake it for the original recording; he is one of those artists that sound identical on or off stage, so no disappointments were to be had this evening.
Hitting all the right spots with the audience this evening they were absolutely lapping it up, not much could make this evening better but a quick appearance from legendary producer Marcus Marr for a rendition of ‘Birthday Card’ & ‘The Trouble with Us’ was just the cherry on top we needed.
Finishing the set with a cheeky encore of new singles ‘Dangerous’ and ‘Sanity’ once again went down an absolute hit, as far as the people in the room were concerned he could do no wrong. Nick Murphy’s career has been on the up and up from the beginning; as far as we can see its only going to continue until it breaks through the heavens.
Words and Photography by Joe Dick