First outing for Morcheeba – aka Ross and Paul Godfrey – since their greatest hits collection Parts Of The Process came out two years ago, this is also their first release on a new label and the first to feature new singer Daisy Martey (formerly with Noonday Underground) who replaces Skye Edwards.
While their blend of trip-hop, soul and classic pop remains more or less intact here, there is a more upbeat feel than the predominantly languid, laid-back grooves of their earlier days. It’s also far less dance/club oriented, reflecting the changing times; in fact most of this sounds like a “proper” band who just happen to have a female singer.
It starts out strong – the catchy opening track and current single ‘Wonders Never Cease’ has echoes of sixties pyscedelic rock, with Martey’s vocal style recalling Jefferson Airplane’s Grace Slick in ‘White Rabbit’ mode. The wah-wah guitar solo on ‘Ten Men’ sounds like it could have been cut and pasted from Crosby, Stills Nash & Young’s Déjà Vu album while ‘Living Hell’ has a light jazzy feel to it. Betraying an even more obvious 1960’s fixation, ‘God Bless And Goodbye’ the final track boasts prog-rock and folk textures pointing to a marked change of direction.
Having sold an impressive five million albums to date, Morcheeba have (or at least had) a sizeable following. Whether they can bring their loyal audience with them on this one remains to be seen.