Two names from the early 80s that I’d never have imagined a connecting thread on are Blitz Kid Boy George and Goth Icon Peter Murphy. Yet, in 2024 here we are with a beautiful new single uniting these disparate talents out today on Metropolis Records. It seemed that Peter Murphy was working with producer Youth on a new album in Spain when he heard Mr. Glover playing something on his phone that caught his ear. It was an unfinished Boy George demo and Murphy was struck by the melodrama of it all and asked if he could work on it. Twenty minutes later it was done. When creative work flows that quickly, you can say that things were “meant to be.”

Peter Murphy + Boy George: Let The Flowers Grow – US – DL [2024]

• Let The Flowers Grow 5:13

The two artists first met when fan Boy George was asking to go backstage to meet Howard Devoto on a Magazine tour where Bauhaus were the opening act. The resulting song has a definite Scott Walker vibe as George’s personal, coming out lyric got embellishments from Murphy that painted broader strokes of yearning compassion. The track opened with an intimate Murphy singing the first two bars of the opening verse with a naked vulnerability before his soaring baritone took flight, to be met by Boy George on the chorus.

The vibe was rich and orchestral; suggestive of Scott Walker. String synths swelled with a stately drum track and pulsating synth bass to march from the shadows and into the light. Boy George’s vibrato imparted a Roy Orbison quality to it all. Generous amounts of the element X of Arabic Oud, bouzouki, and flamenco guitar; courtesy of of Amir John Haddad [a.k.a. El Amir]. Listen below.

Right now this is just a one-off single but it sounds luscious enough to suggest that maybe there’s an EP or album in the future for George and Murphy? I’ve not paid much attention to Boy George over the years but the post-Culture Club material I’ve managed to catch in the 21st century suggests that he’s making music more to my tastes these days than the bland Pop Soul of Culture Club. It’s yours for only $1.25 and if I were at home right now as I said DJs hit that button.

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