For most artists, an album begins with a plan. There is a vision, a timeline, and a clear destination. For Stevey Murray, Duplicity began in a hospital room.
What was supposed to be a tour stop in Colombia became an unexpected turning point. After a sudden medical crisis left him hospitalized for weeks, the artist found himself facing uncertainty, isolation, and a reality far removed from the excitement of performing. In the middle of that experience, music became less about creating a polished product and more about documenting a moment in time.
The result is Duplicity, a project that Murray describes as completely raw, largely unedited, and deeply connected to one of the most challenging chapters of his life.
In this exclusive conversation, he reflects on the making of the project, the emotions behind it, and why feeling remains at the center of everything he creates.
Q: How would you define Duplicity in your own words?
Stevey Murray: It was pretty much all about being in the hospital while I was in Colombia, supposed to be on tour, and basically how everything fell apart. It was just the one thing that I had to write about that was half true and half just getting me through.
Q: You’ve described the project as completely unedited. What does that mean to you creatively?
Stevey Murray: As ironic as it sounds, it’s raw. No once-overs or tight edits. Just when it begins and when it ends for each track.
Q: What made you decide not to put pressure on the project or force a release timeline?
Stevey Murray: There really was no time pressure. It was just the worst time but the best time at the same time to throw it out. I was like, if this is how I’m feeling right now, then at least I’ll have a soft body of work to end with.
Q: Was there a specific creative vision going into the album?
Stevey Murray: If I need to be completely honest about this, there really was no idea for how I would write or how I wanted anything to sound. It seems that the place I was in during that time, which wasn’t so long ago, was just the perfect amalgamation of how I was feeling and how I wanted to be lifted up.
Q: Returning to a more instinctive and unfiltered approach feels different from much of today’s music culture. What did that process teach you?
Stevey Murray: I think it taught me that not everything has to be overthought. Sometimes you just have to let something exist for what it is and where you are in that moment.
Q: What do you hope listeners experience when they hear Duplicity?
Stevey Murray: I really hope that if someone listens to it, they just feel something. I’ll never push a feeling onto somebody because art is subjective. But if you’re feeling how I was feeling, this will really help you. And if you just want to vibe out and listen to a few nice records, then enjoy it.
Q: There seems to be a balance between light and darkness throughout the project.
Stevey Murray: There are funny little components put throughout each track that really helped me while I was going through my hospitalization. But there are also sad things that can make people feel a certain type of way. There’s ups and downs in everybody’s lives. That’s all I can say.
Q: What message sits at the heart of Duplicity?
Stevey Murray: Feeling. If there isn’t any feeling, there’s no art. It’s just an empty canvas.
Q: What would you say to listeners who connect deeply with the project?
Stevey Murray: I don’t want to push my project on anyone. But if it helps somebody, it helps me because I know I did my job. I also want people to go explore music, explore other artists, and feel the things they need to feel to become a fully realized human being.
Q: Looking ahead, where do you see your artistry evolving from here?
Stevey Murray: I’m having my own hard time realizing my art in a new way this time coming out in 2027, so there’s going to be different vibes for different eras. I don’t want to stay in one lane. I want to stay in every single lane possible, from the HOV to the center to the right. That’s truly how art is made. There needs to be a lane for every single person, and I refuse to leave this world without it being so.
Duplicity is not an album built around perfection. It is built around honesty.
Created during a period when life felt uncertain, the project captures a range of emotions that many artists might choose to edit out. Instead, Murray left them intact. The result is a body of work that embraces contradiction, vulnerability, humor, and resilience all at once.
Perhaps that is what makes Duplicity resonate. It does not ask listeners to feel a specific way. It simply invites them to feel.
And in an era where so much music is designed for immediate consumption, that kind of authenticity remains one of the most powerful artistic statements an artist can make.
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