Monique Murphy grew up in Newcastle, where late-night demos and local warehouse gigs shaped her idea of what music could be. She’s the kind of artist who thrives off the messy energy of creative communities, organising multi-arts nights and getting involved wherever she can. But these days, she’s on the other side of the world, living in London and stepping into a completely new phase of her music with her debut single, “I Owe London”.
The song is huge. Big guitars, honest lyrics, the kind of track you want blasting through your headphones while you wander around a city at night. But it’s also deeply personal, a reflection of the world Murphy’s been living in since she left Newcastle. She says the verses came to her while waiting for her phone to charge in Denmark, sitting outside a restaurant she couldn’t afford to go into.
“I was kind of lost,” she says. “I needed maps to get back to where I was staying. Being physically away from London gave me this Birds Eye perspective on everything. The chorus came later, back in London, right after I found out a friend had passed. I just picked up my guitar and sang until I fell asleep.”
That mix of raw emotion and distance runs through the whole track. There’s frustration there, but there’s also a sense of clarity. Murphy wrote it while living in a warehouse that she describes as “a complete construction site”, surrounded by people taking very different paths. "I saw friends disappear into the void of drugs and alcohol, and others climbing career ladders with total moral decline," she explains. “It was massive highs and lows.”
Murphy’s been writing songs since her teens, recording late at night when the world felt still. It’s something she still carries with her now. “The nighttime has always been when I see things more clearly,” she says. “When I feel like no one else can hear or see me, I can be brutally honest. Writing like that has taught me the strength in vulnerability, even when it’s messy.”
That honesty is at the centre of everything Murphy’s working on right now. Her upcoming EP "Sod’s Law" has been years in the making, shaped by her experiences of moving far from home and learning to navigate new relationships, new cities, and a completely different version of adulthood. “I leant on music and poetry so much during that time,” she says. “There was all this loss, excitement, loneliness, and hope happening at once. It changed me. And I guess if it’s changed me, it’s changed my music too.”
Choosing “I Owe London” as her first release wasn’t an easy decision, though. In fact, she went back and forth on it for a while. “I couldn’t decide for the life of me what my debut should be,” she laughs. “But this song felt like a good introduction to the world of Sod’s Law. It sums up the headspace I’ve been in while making all of this.”
Despite the big step of putting music out there, Murphy admits that committing to a final version of her songs has been a real adjustment. "I kept changing the structures every time I played them live," she says. "When it’s just you on a stage, that’s fine. But when you’re playing with a band, you’ve really got to commit to something. Otherwise, everyone just gets confused."
The EP itself has been a challenge in more ways than one. There’s the usual grind of balancing time and money, but for Murphy, the process also came with questions about whether making music even mattered in the bigger picture. "When the world feels like it’s falling apart, is making art and sharing music selfish?” she asks. “I really wrestled with that for a while. But I’ve come to realise it’s not. Music and art have always been essential. If sharing something brings me solace, hopefully, it can do the same for someone else.”
London has been full of opportunities for Murphy, but Newcastle still has her heart. It’s where she first started throwing herself into music and art, organising events like Girls Will Be Girls and Newy West Block Fest. When asked what she’d bring from Newcastle to London, she doesn’t skip a beat. “Redushi,” she says immediately. “Specifically from the Junction at 4:30pm. And chicken salt, obviously. Oh, and the good craic. Do you see why I miss it?”
For now, though, she’s focused on making the most of where she is. She wants her music to keep that same DIY spirit she grew up with, even as she collaborates more and pushes herself further. And she’s learning to balance the vulnerability of her songwriting roots with the polish that comes from working in a studio.
“When you’ve been working on something for years, it’s hard to let it go,” Murphy says. “There’s so much time spent tinkering with demos, trying to get them just right. But at some point, you’ve got to say, yep, this is done, let’s get it out there.”
“I Owe London” feels like the perfect start. It’s big on heart, full of that late-night honesty that’s always driven Murphy’s music. You can hear it now on Spotify and SoundCloud, and it’ll give you a real taste of what’s to come on Sod’s Law. If this song is anything to go by, Monique Murphy’s got plenty more stories to share.
Listen to "I Owe London" by Monique Murphy here;