Head Up High

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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. Original vocalist Skye Edwards returned to the fold for 2010's Blood Like Lemonade and remained for the 2013 release Head Up High. The latter featured guest appearances from rappers Charli 2na and Rizzle Kicks along with White Denim member James Petralli. Now on their second album since original vocalist Skye Edwards rejoined the band, trip-hop veterans Morcheeba stretch their wings on Head Up High, an album that follows its guest stars into outside genres and generally messes about with the group's patented sound. It's obviously an inspirational move, as 'Face of Danger' with rapper Chali 2na is a instantly gripping 2013 neo-disco near-sequel to Grace Jones' declarative hit 'Demolition Man,' while the pride-injected 'To Be' with U.K. hip-hop duo Rizzle Kicks gets that dirt off the shoulder in the coolest of styles. 'Finally Found You' with White Denim's James Petralli is a solid universal love song that would make the country charts if sung by Parton and Rogers or the R&B charts if sung by Austin and Ingram. The veteran trio is willing to explore on its own too, offering new sound with 'Hypnotized,' a sultry, sexy creeper readily available whenever Tarantino needs a cool soundtrack for seduction, while 'Do You Good' is the kind of restrained electro cool that Goldfrapp used to own exclusively. 'Make Believer' offers dub at a wicked dancehall pace, but power ballads aren't a natural fit for the group, as 'Call It Love' cries at the sky looking for answers while lurching its way toward the fade-out. Some other experiments only warrant a B or B+ and the whole jumble might feel odd to a newcomer, but since it is mostly returning fans at this late point in the discography, Head Up High earns its title with only one or two flicks of the skip button.