Singer/songwriter, producer and multi-faceted artist Lisa Murray returns with her enchanting new single ‘Mouse or a Man’ out Wednesday April 19th. This track is the third single from Lisa’s upcoming debut EP titled ‘Empty Heart’.
‘Mouse or a Man’ was co-written by Lisa and Grammy-award winning songwriter Femke Weidema during Lisa’s trip to Nashville last summer. Flipping the idiom “are you a man or a mouse”, the song begs the question of whether or not a partner is going to step up and commit. Lisa expresses the frustration of being in a situationship with someone and not knowing where you stand. Here, she fuses pop songwriting with a retro Americana production style to craft a smoky story, akin to the likes of Fleetwood Mac, First Aid Kit and Taylor Swift.
“When I wrote this song, the first thing that came to me was the piano intro. It’s an unusual harmonic progression – Bbm Absus4 F# – but it sounded like the way I was feeling at the time – slightly melancholic with a whole lot of tension. Lyrically, the chorus came first but the song remained unfinished until I traveled to Nashville last summer and finished it with the help of the incredibly talented Femke Weidema.”
The accompanying music video is set and shot in Rockfield House, an 18th century mansion located near Lisa’s hometown in Ireland. Stylistically, Lisa pulls inspiration from artists such as Stevie Nicks in terms of aesthetics and performance. Directed by Lisa Murray and Bogdan Hrechka, the music video takes us through various candle-lit scenes within the mansion – by the piano, in the library and moving through an ornate hallway.
“With the music videos for the EP, we wanted to capture something really timeless and striking. When we arrived at Rockfield House to see if it would be the right fit for the videos, I instantly knew which rooms I wanted to make use of for each song. The plush red velvet chaise longue, marble fireplace and collection of old literature in the library room screamed ‘Mouse or a Man’ to me!”
‘Mouse or a Man’ was recorded at Chamber Studio in Edinburgh as part of Lisa’s upcoming debut EP ‘Empty Heart’. The EP was produced by Lisa, in collaboration with recording and mix engineer Graeme Young. The track also features bassist Mandy Clarke, drummer Davide Rinaldi and guitarist Marty Hailey. This is the third release from the EP, preceded by ‘Woman In A World’ – a plea to the world to rise up and fight for women’s rights – and ‘Stuck On You’ – the tale of a jilted lover who is unable to move on.
Lisa holds a Masters degree in Music Production, Technology and Innovation from the world-renowned Berklee College of Music as well as an undergraduate degree in Music and Irish from Trinity College Dublin. Alongside her musical work, Lisa devotes a lot of her time towards closing the gender gap in the music industry, heading up the Dublin Chapter of shesaid.so.
