As Uncut said of John Murry’s music, it’s “burnt, bruised Americana” for those who adore the self-depreciating introspection of The National and the proto-country storytelling of The Horrible Crowes. The next record in the pantheon on Murry’s work, The Stars Are God’s Bullet Holes, promises to be a world unto itself, wrapped in the softest black velvet and studded with shining examples of the musician’s signature style.

First up from the album is ‘Oscar Wilde (Came Here To Make Fun Of You)’, the lead single that walks the line between the comedic and the serious, much like the iconic Irish writer for whom the song is named after. It’s an elusive five-minute recording that keeps the listener on their toes as Murry’s peppers in his well-read clues. He sings in that distinctive Southern drawl, “Tell me: what immortal hand or eye / Is gonna give a damn enough to cry / When every day is like huffing lighter fluid / Take me to Reading Gaol with Oscar Wilde / I'll get used to it. / Lock me up in Clerkenwell prison / I'll blow a hole right through it.”

Directed by Aiden Gillen (the acclaimed Irish actor known for his roles in Game of Thrones, Peaky Blinders and The Wire), this dichotomy between light and dark is playfully reflected in through the video. Here Gillen explains:

“We had been talking about various ideas for videos for a while,” Gillen says, “And I had this idea of John floating around my house – or did that happen in real life? – anyways I liked the idea of a John puppet floating around upside down and mentioned this to him, His ex had made this puppet with an uncanny likeness and I used whatever technology I had to hand – a phone camera, a stabilising gimbal and a two-euro macro lens to try and make something that looked nice for the puppet part. I mean, it’s not all in focus, but there a bit too much of that these days. I was asked for the puppet back, but I’d already lost it somewhere.”

As with both the video and the song’s lyrics, there’s an unflinching examination of violence, for example within the opening lines: “I bought fertiliser and brake fluid / Who in the hell am I supposed to trust? / Sympathy ends in gas chambers / Oklahoma City shoulda been enough.” The violence that appears in ‘Oscar Wilde’ and elsewhere in the album is not a glorification; it’s a matter of fact that these things are going on in the United States and Murry doesn’t want us to shy away from that.

“Violence has been a big part of my life,” he says. “It has been inflicted on me in ways that I was unable to control as a teenager, and as a child. I grew up in a place that was violent. I grew up in Mississippi. I grew up in a way that forced me, in order to survive in a culture like that, to posture. You don't realise until later that that becomes a part of the way you see the world. The world becomes this intrusive thing and you're protecting yourself against it. I also realised early on that if you don't fight you're just going to have to fight more.”

With such lyrical vulnerability, the need for trust when they recorded at Rockfield Studio near Monmouth in Wales early in 2020 was total, and Murry found that bond with producer John Parish (PJ Harvey, Eels, Aldous Harding, This Is the Kit).

Set for release on 25th June 2021, The Stars Are God’s Bullet Holes follows the 2017 album A Short History Of Decay, which was praised by Uncut, MOJO Magazine, Q Magazine, The Quietus and Sunday Times.