Day 366: Morcheeba – Big Calm
I’ve had a real hankering for trip hop recently, and I think I need to broaden my horizons from your usual Portisheads or Massive Attacks, so I thought I’d branch out and try a bit of Morcheeba. Apparently this album builds on the trip hop sound they established but takes it into a different direction, and some slightly lighter and more sophisticated trip hop-adjacent music sounds like just what I need today.
Album cover courtesy of Indochina Records
Morcheeba was formed in London in the mid-90s, when brothers Paul and Ross Godfrey were looking for a vocalist and met singer Skye Edwards at a party. They started recording songs together shortly after, and released their debut album Who Can You Trust? in 1996. It was a trip hop album that led to the obvious comparisons to the aforementioned two big hitters. In 1998 when they were doing their second album, they decided to take things into a different direction and start building a sound that’s uniquely theirs.
Big Calm was released in 1998, and it features their new sound that combines the trip hop elements with more varied influences, like pop, blues, lounge, electronica, soul and jazz. The lushness of the sound is paired with Edwards’ beautiful, smooth vocals, and the resulting album is something that’s hard to put a label on, with Edwards saying "It was amazing to be compared to such amazing bands but we outgrew that trip hop label quite quickly. We're still waiting for someone to come up with a name that describes our sound."
And I can’t think of one either. If I had to try to describe this, I’d say it’s atmospheric electronic chillout music that you’d want playing while you lounge at an outdoor bar on a beanbag chair, or maybe something you’d whack on if a night has gone on a bit too long. The obvious difference to the general trip hop vibe is mostly the lightness that there is to it – songs like “Bullet Proof” have elements of trip hop, but it’s like the whole album is also drenched sunlight and warmth, which is a polar opposite of the edgy, slightly grimy feel of trip hop.
I didn’t think I’d listened to Morcheeba before, but I’d definitely heard a few of these songs, and I’d be more than happy to hear them again. It’s not going into regular, heavy rotation, but I think I’ll definitely listen to this in the future. I love Skye Edwards’ voice, and “The Sea” is especially stunning. I also really enjoy how they’ve put instruments like sitar and organ at the centre of some of these songs. It’s a cool album, I liked it, it’s an 8.5/10.