Lucie Murphy has been getting to know herself again. As Poise, the New York City
native is known for crafting dexterous melodies and emotionally-charged lyrics
alongside propulsive rhythms and playful vocal arrangements. On debut album
Vestiges, Murphy channels a devastating period of her life into a source of cathartic
reprieve, transforming grief, bewilderment and uncertainty into a soundtrack for
introspection and growth. It’s an essential reminder that we have the power to trust
ourselves and to come out stronger, even during our darkest, most difficult moments.
 
The catalyst for this chapter of Poise came with the sudden, unexpected death of
Murphy’s father. As a kid growing up in downtown Manhattan in the shadow of the punk
rock scene her father came out of, Murphy was guided by his encyclopedic knowledge
of music – everything from old blues and folk to Pavement and the Magnetic Fields. “He
was always keeping an ear to the ground musically,” she says. “He was open to
everything and loved every genre.” This unwavering curiosity and appreciation of the
arts is something that Murphy strives to emulate every day. “I only started playing guitar
because he did, and my greatest wish is to share with him what I'm writing now.”
 
During a long, difficult winter of grief, the start of a pandemic and the cancellation of her
first ever tour with the Poise project, Murphy fought through the heartache and
reemerged with a vigorous creative energy, propelling her artistic vision to a flourishing
new terrain. “I was devastated by all these things in conjunction with one another,”
Murphy explains. “It was a reminder of how delicate we all are as humans. I really felt
like I needed to find myself again.”
 
As the pandemic grew worse, Murphy left her apartment in Brooklyn and rented out a
cabin in Vermont for the summer months. It was here that she established an artistic
discipline that allowed her to play and experiment, away from the distractions of the
normal every-day. She made more time to exercise and to meditate, which in turn gave
her more stamina when it came to creative endeavours. “I felt like this was the universe
telling me that I have to write this album now. There really isn't time to wait,” she says.
With a consistent and focused writing practise, the album quickly came together within
the space of three months. Armed with the song’s blueprints, Murphy invited Sam
Skinner and Theo Munger to collaborate on the arrangements. “I really learned to trust
my own ear and to trust myself as a curator,” she says of the process. “What I want is
right for me.”
 
The result is an album that honors the past while taking a tentative step forward,
embracing new relationships, creative collaboration and the unknown. Vestiges is
Murphy crafting her own voice and starting her story from scratch, the way she wants to
see it written. “A lot of this record is about finding confidence and learning to put myself
back together when bad things happen,” she says. “It’s about coming out stronger,
despite everything.” Rousing opener “Walked Through Fire” sees Murphy craft a call-toarms to that past self, urging her to weather the storm through a blanket of aberrant
synths, driving percussion and commanding vocals. It’s here that she proves her
abilities as an artist to herself, as well as her loved ones. “Sometimes you do need to
psych yourself up in the mirror,” she says.
 
Later, lethargic-banger “Show Me Your Love” sees Murphy confront those she felt she
gave her all to and received nothing in return, while the guitar-driven “New Kind of Love”
tackles the complicated territory of trying to help a loved one escape an abusive
relationship. “People seem to think it's as easy as calling this abusive person out on the
internet when that might actually endanger the person in the relationship,” she says. “As
a friend, you can feel so powerless in those situations.” Then there’s the gorgeously
throat-tightening, quiet ode to her father on title track “Vestiges,” where Murphy mourns
the loss of her future children’s grandfather beneath a slow-burning, textural drone.
While Vestiges was crafted during the most heart-breakingly treacherous months in
Murphy’s life, it oozes with self-confidence, serenity and courage. It’s an album that
feels urgent, where songs are created not just out of sheer curiosity, but out of a deep,
unrestricted necessity. Through a patchwork of meticulously-crafted textures, Vestiges
ushers in a lustrous purging of agitation and anxiety, allowing Poise to prosper with a
renewed authority that sees her celebrate life as much as she mourns the loss of it.
Here, an artist arrives, on her own terms.