Crystal Murray is the singer writing teenage love letters to Paris’ new generation
Welcome to CHEW THE FAT WITH…, our long-form profile series where we invite you to sit down with fashion’s next generation as they dig deep into their memories. To chew some fat - defined as an informal conversation brimming with small talk - we encourage you to pull up a chair and take a big old bite as we spill the tea on the life and work of the industry’s need-to-knows. Just remember to mop up after yourself.
“And finally you can smoke that one cigarette you’ve been waiting for all week.” It’s 11am in Paris and I’m hurtling around the city in a cab sitting opposite singer CRYSTAL MURRAY. It's a week before the release of her latest single Like It Nasty and I just asked her what the best part of a live show is. Classic Parisian Haussmann buildings, Vespas and Metropolitan signs whizz past us in a blur as the sounds of incessant honking from the city's traffic attempts to drown our conversation out. “Paris, calm down!” she yells over the sounds of congestion. But wait a minute…it’s 10am for me. Although to Murray I appear to have a full face of make-up on while sporting a whopping great pair of earrings, I am regrettably sitting in bed in East London wearing my pyjamas.
Our chat feels so normal and so regular that I forget I’m on Zoom, rather it feels more like we were two girls who just met outside Chez-what’s-her-face and decided to share a taxi home because we’re both heading the same way. Crystal Murray is only 19-years-old, she has a cheeky smile and playful eyes - could this be that fabled French je ne sais quoi? I’ve spent years trying to emulate that bloody je ne sais quoi, oh to be the most enchanting girl in the smoking area but it’s simply something you're born with, something Murray definitely has.
Phoebe Shardlow: How would you describe your sound in three words?
Crystal Murray: Dry, airy and versatile.
Crystal Murray’s music has been celebrated for its marriage of mischievously confessional teenage lyrics with sultry, eclectic jazz sounds. It’s familiar whilst simultaneously modern and refreshing. She transcends genre; house, soul or jazz? Much like her lyric “you're like a tattoo right on my back, can't reach” from Easy Like Before, you can’t quite work out what her sound is. Perhaps one reason for her genre-bending sound is the rising singer’s Parisian upbringing. Spanish mother and African-American father - who is also musically inclined, specifically gospel music in San Francisco, this cultural melting pot has undoubtedly manifested in her oeuvre.
PS: Have you always known that this is what you wanted to do?
CM: It was a dream of mine to become a singer even as a kid, but growing up, being a teenager I always would think “well, no one actually does this,” but I touch wood now because this ended up coming all very naturally to me and I am so lucky people approached me. It means I have an alignment in the stars, non?
PS: How supportive were your family when it came to you pursuing music?
CM: My dad is also a musician, for our family holidays he would take us on tour with him. One time he was touring with MACY GRAY, we travelled around Japan and Mexico - I think this was one of the main events in my life because I spent two months on tour with her. She’s got this prowess of a diva, but she has such a real, raw voice. And then she's so nonchalant on stage, she doesn't force anything at all. When I started making music myself I knew that was exactly who I wanted to be onstage.
It is hardly surprising that Murray cites Macy Gray as a defining influence on her music career, the American singer has been a formidable force in music over the years for her uniquely raspy and distinct vocal style. She tells me how Gray taught her to really appreciate her band which she performs with and that at the end of the day the voice is just another instrument.
PS: If you could perform onstage with anyone - dead or alive - who would it be?
CM: LENNY KRAVITZ. I’m a big guitar fan and I’ve always dreamt of playing with a guitarist one day. The dream is to play with these people you grew up watching on TV, on YouTube… I don’t think there’s that same energy anymore these days in mainstream music; it's too theatrical.
Crystal is undoubtedly a true Parisian just by the way she punctuates each sentence with ‘uhm’,’er’ and ‘non?’. Growing up in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, a luscious and leafy bohemian area of the city - a notable landmark being the world famous Pére Lachaise cemetery, the resting site of Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf and Oscar Wilde, it sits upon one of the cities many hills. She also sings fondly of cigarettes, wine and dancing all night. Murray comes alive when asked about how Paris is coming back in a huge way. But she’s always been a big believer of that, at just 13-years-old she was a member of ‘Gucci Gang’ - an all-girls collective of teens considered to be Paris’ new generation of talented exports. But don’t let me paint the wrong picture, she’s not Parisian in the Chanel 2.55 bag swinging, Diptyque Feu de Bois candle, charcuterie board binging, hashtag sponsored post way. She's actually really bloody cool.
PS: What was your favourite thing about growing up in Paris?
CM: I think I was born into a good generation; we’re everything - we’re black, we’re white, everybody is half something. My generation in Paris is so open.
PS: Is Paris coming back in a huge way?
CM: I feel like a couple of years ago Paris as a city decided they wanted to be one of those cities with connections again like London or Berlin. We don’t wanna be just high fashion couture anymore, we wanna be young creatives! If the older generations don’t want us to make it, we’ll start it ourselves. We have such a voice artistically. I love Paris, I think it’s a great city to be in, the people are great, the nightlife is great…when we reopen it’s going to be amazing.
PS: Will you ever leave Paris?
CM: I will leave soon…I need to see other stuff but I will always come back to Paris, for sure.
