Murphy's Heart

not for no reason does bruce springsteen buy her records (other fans include the likes of joan beaz and martha wainwright). for seemingly anyone that has heard of gilmore has fallen for her, and whilst she is not (yet) a household name, thea is a genuine word-of-mouth success story, which shows no signs of slowing down. having turned down all the major labels at least once, gilmore has been making intensely personal, socially aware music since she was a teenager. she can even get away with releasing a rapturously-received, alternative christmas record (last year's 'strange communion', which featured a yoko ono cover, a duet with mark radcliffe, and a musical invocation to a pagan sun god - hardly 'rocking robin' territory). its follow-up is thea's tenth studio album: a big deal in itself, but one which also falls on the year of her thirtieth birthday.