Matt Murphy fronts The Wombats at 9:30 Club on Jan. 20, 2022. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)

Toward the end of the main set at 9:30 Club on the first of two nights, The Wombats frontman Matt Murphy told the sold-out room, “This song is based on something my wife told me, prior to launching into “If You Ever Leave, I’m Coming with You” from the trio’s brand new album, Fix Yourself, Not the World.

The inspiration for the song surely justified Murph’s high spirits and good cheer. Happily married, he took up residence in Los Angeles and fathered two daughters with said wife in the time since the release of The Wombats’ previous album.

Whatever good life Murph is living paid off big time not only in boisterous nights at the 9:30 Club but also in the form of a No. 1 album in The Wombats’ native United Kingdom this week! The No. 1 score is a first for The Wombats, who usually broke the UK Top 5 at least with their previous three albums. (Extraordinary debut record, A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation, hit No. 11 on the UK charts back in 2007.)