ALBUM REVIEW: Love Fame Tragedy – Wherever I go, I Want To Leave
BEST TRACKS: Please Don’t Murder Me (Part 2), Honeypie, Sharks, My Cheating Heart
FCC violations: 5150, Pills, Body Parts, Multiply, B-Team
Love Fame Tragedy is the solo project of The Wombat’s lead vocalist and guitarist Mathew Murphy. It all began in 2016 as a place for him to put his songs that didn’t quite fit in with the Wombat’s album Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life, which is leagues more innocent and love-struck than this independent project of Murphy’s. Wherever I go, I Want To Leave is Murph’s debut solo album. This music is about as alternative indie rock as you can get for your buck, taking influences from bands such as Bastille and The Killers.
This album features an incredibly lush medley of percussion, guitar, and keyboard. Synth-pop elements are notably seen on the 5th track, ‘Multiply’, while track 2, ‘My Cheating Heart’, is heavier on the guitar and bass. Most songs on this album, however, are a spectacular blend of synth-pop elements and classic indie rock, mixing tight percussion and wavy synthetic effects with grounding baselines and catchy electric riffs. The instrumental on this album melds together, with no one instrument really taking the spotlight, which makes the vocals stand out a lot more. This is especially true on track 9, ‘Please Don’t Murder Me (Part 2)’ where the instrumental is really toned down to emphasize the message in the lyrics.
Though the cover art and title of this album seem pessimistic and bleak, the feeling I got from most of the songs on the album was quite the opposite. This album is very vibrant and lively, especially the 14th track, ‘Honeypie’. This album sort of seems like a confessional, as a common theme on this album is Murphy outlining numerous of his own flaws, such as his propensity to give in to the temptations of toxic women, spending huge amounts of money, drug abuse, and his tendency to bet everything on a whim – just to name a few. The list goes on and on.
Recommended if you like: The 1975, The Killers, Bastille, Foals, Two Door Cinema Club, The Wombats
-Safia