Róisín Marie Murphy ( , ; born 5 July 1973) is an Irish singer, songwriter, and record producer. She first became known in the 1990s as one half of the pop duo Moloko alongside English musician Mark Brydon. After the breakup of Moloko, she embarked on a solo career and released her debut solo album Ruby Blue (written and produced with experimental musician Matthew Herbert) to critical praise in 2005. Her second solo album, Overpowered, was released in 2007. After an eight-year hiatuswhich was sporadically interrupted by non-album singles, side projects, and guest appearances on other artists' recordsMurphy released her third solo album Hairless Toys in 2015; it was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and Ireland's Choice Music Prize. The following year, she released her fourth album Take Her Up to Monto. In 2018, she released four 12" releases in collaboration with producer Maurice Fulton. In 2020, Murphy released her disco-inspired fifth solo album, Róisín Machine. It received critical acclaim and became her most commercially successful album. Early life Róisín Marie Murphy was born in Arklow on 5 July 1973. When she was 12 years old, she and her family moved to England, where they settled in Manchester. She embraced 1960s fashion from going with her mother, who was an antiques dealer, to car boot sales and charity shops. After three years of living in Manchester, her parents divorced and both of them moved back to Ireland. 15-year-old Murphy, however, insisted on remaining alone in England because she did not think that her mother had the strength to continue taking care of her. She lived with her best friend for a year, until she could receive Housing Benefit and move into a nearby apartment. Murphy's school years were difficult as she recalled in 2019: "I never felt it was like being bullied; I always felt I intimidated people, and that was why I got in trouble." She befriended a group of "weird boys who wore black" and who listened to The Jesus and Mary Chain. When Murphy attended a Sonic Youth concert with a friend, she was inspired to become a performer. She concealed her singing voice, not wanting other people to know she "sounded like Elaine Paige". She later joined a post-punk band that split after a handful of performances. She enrolled in a sixth form college at the age of 17 and later considered going to art