Morcheeba – Blaze Away

Psychedelic trip-hop fusion

London trip-hop pioneers Morcheeba are back from a five-year Hiatus with Blaze Away. The band is focused and they stick to their strengths throughout the tight ten-track project. Blaze Away’s diverse and colorful production is handled by Ross Godfrey and Skye Edwards returns with her soothing singing and sultry “peace and love” lyricism. While being criticized in the past for being bland and too robotic, Blaze Away brings things back to an updated version of the sounds and production that put them on the map.

Blaze Away opens with “Never Undo.” This atmospheric slow jam that sets the mood with dubby programmed beats and shimmering guitars. “Blaze Away,” the title track, features more upbeat hip-hop production and a rap feature from Roots Manuva. The mixing, production and Skye’s singing are on the mark. “Love Dub” is a highlight with its swirling electric guitars, delay effects and great driving reggae percussion.

“It’s Summertime” is a lush downtempo synth rock song with excellent production and singing. “Sweet LA” is a low key beatless cooldown. And “Paris Sur Mer” is a sexy and extravagant psych-rock track featuring an amazing duet sung in French. “Set Your Sails” is faster and has a ’90s dance vibe, with glitzy synths, fast glitchy breakbeats and growling bass. “Mezcal Dream” closes the project, featuring a washed out vox and guitar echo over steady acoustic drum grooves. This track is a great showcase of Morcheeba’s newfound focus on musicianship and instrumentalism.

The focus on musicianship and a thoughtful production process have synthesized a pleasing psych rock dubby fusion in Blaze Away. Morcheeba doesn’t really get experimental or reinvent anything but they manage to update what people have always loved about their music. It’s relaxing, it’s psychedelic and it’s a fun listen. So, as they would say, blaze away.