The opening track "Sow into You" uses a metaphor of rain and harvests to describe love and sex,[2] atop a baroque pop brass arrangement.[3] The third track "Dear Diary" is a torch song mixing northern soul with disco music[4] with the sounds of doorbells and telephones ringing.[5] The extended play closes with "Leaving the City", which slowly builds up during the introduction[3] and uses out of tune instrumentation and a repetitive chorus.[6]
Cover artwork
The cover of Sequins 2 was painted by Simon Henwood. Murphy met Henwood in a pub, and Henwood, who was known for his simplified paintings of teenagers, thought that she would be a good subject for a painting.[7][8] Henwood came to Murphy's house the next week and, while they were looking through her wardrobe, decided to have her dressed in sequins.[7] Murphy positioned her body in abstract shapes for Henwood to paint.[8] She developed a character, which Henwood described as a "disco electro pop diva with a 1940s look".[9] His canvases were displayed at The Hospital in Victoria, London,[10] and Murphy purchased them "for [her] kids so they can see what [she] once looked like."[8]
