Peter Murphy ‘Silver Shade’ (Metropolis Records, May 9, 2025): Pioneering vocalist expands his sound on his new album, which includes guest appearances from Trent Reznor and more.
Nearly a decade after his last studio album, Peter Murphy returns with ‘Silver Shade’ (Cooking Vinyl, May 9, 2025): a feral, adventurous record that feels like a culmination of his storied career and a bold new chapter. Produced by Killing Joke bassist and longtime collaborator Youth, who also helmed 2014’s ‘Lion’, this latest release is rife with dark energy, dramatic flourishes, and high-profile guest appearances, yet grounded by the former Bauhaus frontman’s singular baritone and artistic conviction.
Silver Shade opens with a one-two punch. Lead single Swoon is a slinky, funk-inflected track, layered with sinister guitars and anchored by a muscular beat. Trent Reznor co-stars here, lending his granular croon in a performance that feels more duet than cameo. Their voices weave together in hypnotic sync, setting the tone for an album that relishes both contrast and harmony.
Next comes ‘Hot Roy’, a towering anthem built around tribal percussion, shimmering guitars, and richly layered vocals. It’s one of the most immediate tracks on the album, with Murphy and Reznor’s multitracked voices a choir of two.
The title track is a centerpiece in every sense – an epic, shape-shifting number that finds Murphy at his most theatrical and uninhibited. Tool’s Danny Carey brings thunderous precision on drums, and Reznor returns again, this time matching Murphy’s signature slither with playful mimicry on lead vocals. It’s a thrilling moment of mutual admiration between two artists who’ve long inhabited the darker corners of rock music.
Another highlight, ‘The Artroom Wonder’, opens with an insistent synth riff, slowly building into a kaleidoscopic swirl of sound. Murphy’s whispered croon explodes into full-throated melodrama over a glittering, danceable groove—cinematic, glammy, and bombastic.
But perhaps the emotional core of the album lies in ‘The Meaning of My Life’, a raw mission statement dressed in Middle Eastern motifs and symphonic grandeur. Murphy belts the titular refrain like a man possessed, his voice climbing to its limits over Carey’s pounding drums and Justin Chancellor’s winding bass. It’s a defiant cry of purpose, and at 66, Murphy’s vocals remain formidable
The album’s second half may not be as immediately propulsive, but it reveals new layers with each listen. ‘Cochita is Lame’ stalks with a New Wave strut, while ‘Soothsayer’ taps into a primal rock energy, complete with handclaps and a satisfyingly skulking, Danzig-like riff.
‘Time Waits’ slows things down with acoustic strings and a haunting melody steeped in Murphy’s adopted home of Istanbul. Reminiscent of his 2002 album ‘Dust’, it’s a meditation on aging and impermanence, marked by the refrain, “Time waits for no man.”
The closing track, ‘Sailmakers Charm’, is an eight-minute cinematic voyage, unfurling with gentle percussion and plaintive guitars before swelling into a grand finale. It’s an apt closer for a record that balances reflection and reinvention.
And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the album’s bonus track, ‘Let The Flowers Grow’, a surprise collaboration with Boy George that is as peculiar as it is catchy.
If ‘Silver Shade’ is a twilight statement, it’s one ablaze with color and life. With production that balances murk and clarity, and contributions from a dream team of collaborators, the album offers something for every era of Peter Murphy fan from Bauhaus purists to solo-era devotees. A reinvigorated return that belies his age yet benefits from experience.
