John Murry - The Stars Are God's Bullet Holes (2021)

John Murry’s third album is starlit and wondrous, like being wrapped in the softest black velvet. It’s an album of startling imagery and insinuating melodies, of cold moonlight and searing heat. It’s a record that penetrates to the very heart of you, searing with its burning honesty, its unsparing intimacy and its twisted beauty.

‘The Stars Are God’s Bullet Holes’ is not an album for an ordinary world, because it’s not an ordinary album. It’s an album to dive deep into and submerge yourself in, and to emerge from aware that this world is a remarkable place. ‘The Stars Are God’s Bullet Holes’ is pervaded with a portion of extremely black humor. Although his lyrics are still about violent (family) environments, the daily struggle for survival and the deep sadness of the American living in Ireland, there is now a silver lining on the horizon. A highlight is Murry's version of the Duran Duran hit Ordinary World, fitting the man who is often compared to Nick Cave or Marc Lanegan, and now at 42 is finally able to take on himself and his feelings, traumas and decisions.