Morcheeba has a trippy but polished downtempo sound that makes their music danceable but also perfect chill-out music.
The band is made up of two UK brothers, Paul and Ross Godfrey, who cover the production and electronics, and Skye Edwards on vocals. Their music often has a retro sound, with low-fi samples and traditional blues lyrics. Their production is often complex, but never obscures the vocals.
Edwards voice is smokey and soulful, and her beautiful presence is a big part of the bands’ appeal. Her laid back but strong singing lends an immediate sensuousness to the often languid songs. It’s hard to imagine Morcheeba’s music without Edward’s vocals.
The Godfrey brothers create downtempo trip-hop tracks that draw on many influences, mostly retro. They combine looped beats with traditional soul instruments like sax, wah guitar and hammond organ. Their production style incorporates dub influences, with tape echo used tastefully to create loop effects.
The combination of Edwards’ dead-on vocals and the chilled electronica vibes update the soul ballad style.
Morcheeba has six major releases:
- 1996 – Who can you trust?
- 1998 – Big Calm
- 2000 – Fragments of Freedom
- 2001 – Back to Mine
- 2002 – Charango
- 2003 – Parts of the Process
