Morcheeba has been a musical, trip-hop sanctuary to the masses for 30 years. Kent-based brothers, producers and multi-instrumentalists Paul and Ross Godfrey’s chance meeting with East Londoner singer and writer Skye Edwards in the mid-1990s, triggered the genesis of the then trio. They captured the dreamy, electronic, late 90s zeitgeist perfectly with their debut release ‘Who Can You Trust?’, closely followed by the more folky, yet hugely successful ‘Big Calm.’ In the intervening period, Edwards went on a five-year hiatus in 2003 and Paul Godfrey quit altogether around 2013.
With Skye and Ross now performing as a duo, Morcheeba’s 11th album is the third without Paul Godfrey. Simply put, ‘Escape the Chaos’ could be their best LP since the turn of the century. Lead single and opener ‘Call for Love’ is signature, spine-tingling brilliance from Skye that is as much anthemic as it is soothing. Quasi-rap sounding ‘Peace of Mind’ with Oscar #Worldpeace is a throwback to the left-field interludes on those early Morcheeba albums which featured the likes of Spikey-T.
‘We Live and Die’, is Edwards’s tribute to the familial longevity of the band and is a true standout on the record. The track’s verse has a shadow side to it, lifted to the heavens by Skye’s vocals in the chorus.
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Following the global tour to support their previous offering, ‘Blackest Blue’ in 2021, ‘Escape the Chaos’ was two years in the making. It was completely produced by Godfrey, however he pulled in his fair share of favours to flesh out the project along the way. This includes Aussie producer Hugh Counsell, who co-wrote the quirky instrumental ‘Cooler Heads Prevail’, which also features some fine record scratching by DJ Mr Six. Colombian musician El Léon Pardo and Godfrey’s wife & French singer, Amanda Zamolo both guest on the shamanic and trippy ‘Pareidolia’.
The first half of the album contains undoubtedly the strongest tracks including the hooky ‘Elephant Clouds’, the rousing ‘Far We Come’ and the gently simmering ‘Molten’. That’s not to say that the latter half of the LP doesn’t contain any gems. The aforementioned ‘Pareidolia’ is a wicked, guitar driven pyschedelic soup and the closing, atmospheric title track serves to tie a bow on the themes of solidarity, inclusion and refuge.
Morcheeba would never be naive enough to think that their music can achieve world harmony, however hearing the voice of Skye Edwards intertwined with the music of Godfrey remains an oasis in life’s madness, bringing a sonic fragment towards individual and collective inner peace.
8/10
Words: Lee Campbell
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