Morcheeba: "Big Calm" (Indochina)

Trip-hop is a greatly overused term, and it has been used a lot to describe this laidback English dance collective

Trip-hop is a greatly overused term, and it has been used a lot to describe this laidback English dance collective. But though singer Skye can often evoke the smoky, jazzy voice of Beth Gibbons, and young mastermind Paul Godfrey is well up to Geoff Barrow scratch, Morcheeba are not a would-be Portishead. There's a different set of influences at work on Big Calm, but it all adds up to a delicious, downbeat collection of tunes, ranging from the Kulashaking sitar of Shoulder Holster to the orchestral splendour of Blindfold to the budding country-soul of Part Of The Process. There's a shameless devotion to the power of the pop ditty, and sometimes Skye can sound like a stoned Andrea Corr, but overall Big Calm is a tasty, slightly spicy mix of chill-out club music.

Kevin Courtney

Kevin Courtney

Kevin Courtney is an Irish Times journalist