The most groove-oriented act in the mid-'90s female-fronted electronica crowd,
Morcheeba rely on the sweet, fluid vocals of
Skye Edwards and a laid-back mix of fusion, funk, and blues produced by brothers
Paul and
Ross Godfrey, on beats/scratches and guitar/keyboards, respectively. The trio was formed in 1995 when
the Godfreys decided to go out on their own after co-producing six tracks for
David Byrne's album
Feelings. They submitted several tapes of their instrumental demos to labels around London, but received little interest in return. After hooking up with vocalist
Edwards at a party, however, their music began to gel and
Morcheeba signed to the China label. After the release of two EPs (
Trigger Hippie and
Music That We Hear), the trio issued its debut album,
Who Can You Trust? It appeared on the American Discovery label in late 1996, and
Morcheeba toured the U.S. with
Live and
Fiona Apple the following year.
Big Calm followed in 1998 and
Fragments of Freedom was released two years later.
Charango appeared in 2002 and featured guest appearances from
Lambchop's
Kurt Wagner and rapper
Slick Rick. A year later, the greatest-hits collection
Parts of the Process was released and
Skye Edwards left the band. Former
Noonday Underground vocalist
Daisy Martey joined the group for 2005's
The Antidote, a more acoustic album that mixed psychedelia with
Burt Bacharach-styled pop.
Dive Deep (2008) took a marked turn toward folk, with
the Godfreys using a revolving door of vocalists who included
Thomas Dybdahl,
Judie Tzuke, and
Bradley Burgess.
Skye Edwards returned to the fold for 2010's Blood Like Lemonade.
–
John Bush, Rovi