Album Review - 'Love Fame Tragedy Wherever I Go, I Want To Leave'

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‘Murph’, the lead singer from the indie veterans The Wombats is paving his own path to become a legend in his own right with his solo project Love Fame Tragedy and calls in his connections for his defiant debut solo album ‘Wherever I Go, I Want to Leave’. 

Recorded between Sydney, London and his adopted home of Los Angeles, Murph really calls on some friends for some great collaborations, from the likes of Bastille’s Dan Smith to The Killers’ Mark Stoermer on the latest single ‘Everything Affects Me Now’. 

Collaborations aside, Love Fame Tragedy is really an outlet for the frontman to speak about his own experiences and ‘Wherever I Go, I Want to Leave’ is a 17-track confessional of hedonism, responsibility, anxiety and the fragility of love to name a few themes. The sound of The Wombats isn’t too far away from Love Fame Tragedy, with groovy funk coming in right from the off with ‘5150’ to indie anthems in ‘B-Team’. 

It’s clear that Murph wants to take it further than a typical, colour by numbers indie album as he experiments with synths and instrumentals with the dreamy ‘The Sea is Deep and the World is Wide’ and does well to showcase a widened soundscape to the listener. 

‘Wherever I Go, I Want to Leave’ really sees Murph wear his heart on his sleeve like listeners haven’t seen before as he uses this project as an outfit to tackle his own demons and coping with coming of age. Love Fame Tragedy really is something unique and certainly certifies Murph as one of this country’s best musicians. 

Words by Danial Kennedy