MUSIC
preview
Top of the hops
Having road-tested their new material across the States, MORCHEEBA are about to give Glasgow the live vibe.
Words: Rory Weller
Even though Moreheeba’s first albtnn Who Can You Trust has just gone silver in the UK. lead singer Skye Edwards is probably better known forjust three words: ‘We go home‘. Sandwiched between David Bowie and Bono on the BBC’s ‘Perfect Day’ single she can honestly say she’s had a Number One single. albeit with another 30 or so superstars.
While Moreheeba are not exactly desperate to produce a poptastic chart topper. ‘Perfect Day’ may not be the last time that Edwards visits the upper end of the charts. The band — who met at a party in Greenwich and whose first demo became ‘Trigger l-lippy‘ -
play pot pop. a morphoid mix of
genres which is more kip hop than trip hop. Edwards’ beautiful. languid vocals hush—front the music of brotherly duo Paul and Ross Godfrey. creating a sound that swallows you into a purple smoking London vibe. The cover of their new album Big Calm depicts the three of them asleep in a framed photo; while before them a phone hangs off the hook. The
essential Moreheeba ethos is chill. snuggle up and
enjoy.
Although Big Calm follows the first album by more than a year. the majority of the tracks were written about the same time as Who Can You Trust and result from a bottom-of-the-bottIe drinking
session.
‘Ross and Patti got together and got drunk one
evening.’ says Edwards. ‘The
l I,
rat-
Morcheeba: kip hop pioneers
across America. through the desert. past huge cacti.’
Edwards is the first to confess to being a shy
person. a fact which is reflected directly in her music. On the first album she could almost be sighing into the microphone; lyrics as lullabye breath. With Big Calm she seems to have found a new confidence in
herself and her capabilities.
next day they just handed me all these songs. “Part Of The Process". "Fear And Love". “Over and Over" and pretty much most of Big Calm. Paul gave me all the lyrics he’d
written and I had to come tip with the melodies.‘
Even as far back as their debut New York gig last January they were trying out the new tracks. and they quite literally road-tested them across America. ‘We took them out on the US tour and played them on the tour bus.’ she says. ‘We’d listen to them and say. “Oh. I can hear a string quartet on this one and a steel on that one“. We got the ideas flowing as we travelled
40 m usr 20 Mat—2 Apr 1998
’We cali our stuff coupley shagging music. But i tend not to shag to my own music'. Skye Edwards
‘Before. I was almost whispering when l was
singing. so there wasn’t much the others could do.’ she says in characteristically soft tones. ‘They couldn’t really put much over it or my voice would just get lost. This time. the singing
is a lot stronger. which allows for
more instrumentation. and the writing is better.‘
One thing that fans of Moreheeba will be pleased to hear is that the new album continues to demonstrate a certain. ahem. intimacy. ‘We call our stuff coupley shagging music.’ she says laughing. ‘But I tend not to shag to my own music’.
Morcheeba play at The Arches, Glasgow, Sun 22 Mar.
Bigmouth
The glamour and the squalor from our top pop chumlets . . .
’I have a real problem with sleepwalking. I once took a shite in the airing cupboard in me house, with me mum watching me. And you wake up in the morning and you remember going for a shite in your dreams.’
Fran Hea/y of Travis reveals more
in formation than is strictly necessary.
’After several unsuccessful attempts, I managed some time ago to have sexual intercourse with my girlfriend for a full minute and seventeen seconds. Since a few months have now elapsed I am contemplating an even better performance. Can you help?’
A 0 magazine reader seeks advice from renowned Tantric sex god, Sting. ’Now, once you’ve got no work, my instant thing is, go get pissed. So I got pissed — for a year. Longer. Maybe a year and a half, two years. And when the time came for me to do work again, I’d completely forgotten how to stop drinking.’
Robbie Williams remembers the pie years.
'l’ve always been fascinated by Germans. A lot of the guys in rock ’n’ roll liked the uniform.’
Iggy Pop demonstrates why he will never get a job with the German tourist office.
'The band never liked soundchecking. And when they did they just told Sid to sit it out because he couldn’t play anyway. They used to do that during gigs. They'd just turn his amp off and just let him get on with what he did best - showing off.’
Barbara Harwood, the Sex Pistol’s driver on their infamous SPOTS tour, tel/s 0 magazine about Sid’s strong points.
‘There was this weird scene with a giant cereal box and two blokes dressed up in fly costumes - green stretch body suits and these fly headsets. And then they both shagged this woman at the same time. It did my head in. I just thought why?’
Jarvis Cocker recounts the dark side of porn obsession.