Where Wintersleep is a juggernaut capable of cranking out massive anthems, POSTDATA, the solo project of frontman Paul Murphy, is a personalized, handcrafted scalpel. While Murphy is no less capable of turning out the hits by his lonesome, his third and latest album, Twin Flames, contains the sort of specific authenticity that might be only capable of someone writing in the solitude of a pandemic.
Produced by Paul Murphy and Ali Chant (PJ Harvey, Perfume Genius, Algiers) during Nova Scotia’s June-August lockdown of 2020, Murphy manages to bring in a few familiar contributors including Wintersleep bandmate Tim D’Eon and Frightened Rabbit’s Andy Monaghan. It makes for an album that is still familiar as POSTDATA, albeit a pointedly personal one.
According to Murphy, Twin Flames is subject to both introspection and “focused on creating or surrounding itself in hope and warmth,” but delivered through the lens of a lockdown, the result is often achieved through juxtaposition. Murphy gently delivers a profound sense of romanticism that is, more often than not, balanced delicately on the edge of a blade. This is love according to Leonard Cohen or a subtle inversion of Bruce Cockburn’s “Lovers in a Dangerous Time.” Twin Flames is a darkly intimate album that might have just as easily been titled Love Songs for the Apocalypse.
Which isn’t to say that Murphy is morosely pining away for the duration of the album. Rather, he showcases depth and versatility by turning what might have been straightforward pop songs into something more complex with just a hint of tragedy and vice versa. This is the silver lining that comes with an accompanying side of cloud; “Nobody Knows” plays like a jaunty panic attack, the titular “Twin Flames” is a Cohen-esque take on a passionate Shakespearean romance, “Behind You” is a dance track on the merits of cutting your losses, lest the vampires get you.
And just in case there’s ever any concern of things getting entirely too serious, Murphy pulls out the stops on the choruses. He goes big on “Kissing,” an anthem for high-stakes tonsil hockey and shoo-in for song most likely to be sung en masse by exalted bar crowds. Twin Flames may be working on a theme, but it turns on a dime.
What is most prevailing, however, is Twin Flames tragically romantic theme. Ultimately, this album is a prime example of how people are complex under any circumstances, but especially under these circumstances. Over the course of what is essentially an album of love songs, we come up against the borders of passion and obsession, devotion and dependency, and the ever-looming threat of loss. Murphy has brilliantly combined all of them in a way that says the sting is inevitable, but everything else makes it worth it.
POSTDATA is scheduled to perform an intimate, acoustic show on March 12, 2021 at 9:00 pm ET, presented by Paper Bag Records and Side Door Access. Tickets + special vinyl bundles are available HERE.