Tripping Across Generations

London trip hoppers Morcheeba have just dropped their eighth album, Head Up High, with soulstress Skye Edwards once again out front. Some 18 years ago Edwards and the Godfrey brothers, Paul, a DJ, and Ross, a multi-instrumentalist, debuted with Who Can You Trust?. The Godfreys, from Kent, had met Edwards at a warehouse party. Critics suspected Morcheeba of jumping on the trip hop bandwagon but, in a notoriously ephemeral industry, they survived, developing a sophisticated fusion of jazz, folk, worldbeat, soul, blues, psychedelia, pop and hip hop.

“We were chatting about it, myself and Ross, the other day and saying how we kind of judge our music career by the ages of our children,” jokes Edwards, a mother of three. “My son is about to turn 18 in November and I was pregnant when we recorded Who Can You Trust? – and Ross has just had his first child. His girlfriend was pregnant while we were recording Head Up High. So we were thinking, 'Oh, just imagine in 20 years' time when your daughter's like...' It is pretty cool that we're still around and still making good music.”

The group broke commercially with their second album, 1998's Big Calm – soundtracking both after hours chill-out sessions and fashionable dinner parties. Head Up High, led by Gimme Your Love, mines (post-)dubstep with songs like Make Believer – apt considering that Morcheeba foreshadowed James Blake and Jessie Ware. Crucially, this time the band aimed to record up-tempo (and radio-friendly) fare.

Morcheeba have experienced internal drama. An artistically frustrated Edwards quit in 2003, taking what she politely refers to today as “that seven-year break”. The Godfreys replaced her with Noonday Underground's Daisy Martey on The Antidote. Martey herself was then ejected – and she sued. For 2008's 'producer album' Dive Deep, the Godfreys sought a random series of obscure guest vocalists, such as '70s singer-songwriter Judie Tzuke.

Morcheeba might have fizzled out. Ross even moved to Hollywood to score films. But then, out of the blue, Edwards returned for the assured Blood Like Lemonade. It was surprising since the east Londoner had successfully launched a solo career with 2006's Mind How You Go. (She's also worked with the Nouvelle Vague fold.) The mild-mannered Edwards maintains she didn't lay down any conditions for the reunion. “It's not my nature to go in and say, 'Okay, I'm only going back if...'” She simply made one request – that her bassist husband (and “best friend”) Steve Gordon, whom she'd met through Morcheeba, rejoin, too. “If I was gonna go on tour, then I would need a friend – because at that stage with Ross and Paul, we hadn't spoken for seven years,” she admits. “I was very nervous about returning. I didn't know how they felt about me – and was it gonna be like before?” Edwards shouldn't have worried. The Godfreys wanted tranquillity. “They'd grown and matured – and they were sorry.” She laughs. “We kind of worked it out... So I'm happy to be back. I never thought I would be happy back in Morcheeba, but I am very happy. We get on very well.” The creative dynamic in Morcheeba has little changed, with Edwards writing melodies, Ross composing music and Paul penning lyrics, cutting beats and producing. Nevertheless, family commitments necessitate that the trio prepare material independently. Morcheeba hired a London studio to then lay down Head Up High in two weeks.

Head Up High boasts some ultra-contemporary cameos – UK hip hoppers Rizzle Kicks show up on the darkly comic To Be, to the delight of Edwards' teens. “It's hard to impress your children these days. People sort of think, 'Oh, you sing in a band, that must be really cool'. [But] it's like, 'Well, I'm just Mum to them – they've grown up with it'.”

With the Godfreys' support, the singer has sustained a solo sideline, an outlet for “personal” songs. Paul “really loved” last year's third outing, Back To Now. “I always try to push myself melodically and lyrically – maybe that had an influence on the Morcheeba album, who knows?” Still, Edwards prefers to keep her two identities “separate”.