Skye - In a Low Light Album Review

Rating: 9/10

Now this could confuse the music snobs. Skye is Skye Edwards, lead singer of Morcheeba, who have been forced to confront the prejudices of over-familiarity brought on by their own, early success. Though praised for their early trip-hop – a scene into which they were perhaps awkwardly shoehorned – their later outings have been lazily sidelined, and reaction to Skye’s not-dissimilar sounding solo output has been similarly somewhat subdued.

Yet her fourth album represents a left turn into a shadowy world, its sparse beats rippling through expansive, luminous soundscapes. Imagine her parent band’s The Sea given a minimalist, electronic makeover by the Mad Professor and you’re some way there. This record will happily sink politely into the background if you allow it, but to engage with it more thoroughly is to dive into meditative, flickering waters, their labyrinthine depths piloted by Skye’s smooth, soulful voice, who is in turn guided by husband/bassist Steve Gordon and Emmy-nominated documentary composer Robert Logan, an occasional Grace Jones collaborator. Her goal was “to write an album of songs that I could fall asleep to”, which, to those cynical about Morcheeba, might appear an own goal. But, though there’s something of The Chill Out Zone about these nine songs, there’s nothing negatively soporific to them. Dead And Buried is far from moribund, moving at a creeping pace like the theme tune to a sinister HBO series about creatures that come out at night, and Cry finds her sighing seductively against an Enoesque backdrop. Storm sounds like a hurricane’s hushed aftermath soundtracked by Massive Attack, while opener Give In is unsettling, its bassline tugging Skye’s airborne melody downwards, its percussive details like a skeleton’s tap on the shoulder. However, for all these sombre moments, there are radiant ones: the translucent For The Day, or Here Is What Is, recalling producer Anton Fier’s rare but precious work with Stina Nordenstam. No wonder the album’s called In A Low Light: despite the warmth at its heart, it’s as though this Skye’s not seen sunshine in months. Let her reign.