Morcheeba: Charango : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Lush, vaguely exotic strings, tasteful electronic beats and a female singer who's so languid she's almost not there -- ooh la la, another Morcheeba record. But just when this tres elegant U.K. trio seems to be drowning in a parody of jet-setter trip-hop on the song "Sao Paulo," frontwoman Skye Edwards murmurs, "My life is just one big cliche." Then Morcheeba drop a delicate tune with a troubled, gauzy atmosphere and the song title of the year: "What New York Couples Fight About." The creepy "Slow Down" is laced with Pink Floyd-ish blue guitars and an ambience that suggests resignation rather than relaxation, haunted desperation rather than decadence. Morcheeba make a lovely sound, but they seem to be broadcasting from a very bright and pretty hell.

PAT BLASHILL
(RS 905 - Sept. 19, 2002)