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Buddha blessed >> Morcheeba's Skye Edwards stays calm by RUPERT BOTTENBERG
"It's a girl," says Edwards proudly. "She was born on the 10th of Feb, and her name is Kiki." No nouveau-parental hyperbole, mind you. Kiki is Edward's second child (her son Jaeger is three), and both are already earning their road legs. They're gonna have to, because fame waits for no mom. "They say that from birth to three are the most important years in a child's development. And here they're travelling around the world and seeing all these people." You'd think that working with the brother act of Paul and Ross Godfrey, Edwards would have enough babysitting to do. But it's not like that. "They get along really well, there's a five-year age difference between them. They have their arguments, but they don't get to punching each other or anything." Good to hear they're keeping their calm--the Godfrey brothers are responsible for the sonic canvas behind Edward's smooth, soul-inflected stylings. Theirs is the distinctive blend of trip hop's trademark languor, cut with dimestore exotica, streetwise jazz noir and hummable pop hooks. Oh, and the country music thing. Memo to Warner execs: The track "Part of the Process," slow-hop beats aside, could potentially have serious legs on country & western radio. As serious, surprisingly, as Edward's appreciation of the form. "To be honest, I grew up listening to country & western. My mom played her records for me. My favourite was this guy called Slim Whitman. I'd like to find a CD, my records are all scratched up." C&W isn't the only foreign import to add its flavour to Big Calm. There's a Buddhist motif to the disc, care of the band's art director Daniel McLewin. "I guess it kind of fits in with the spiritual side of the music," says Edwards. "Kind of a meditation, in a way." Are we to expect a new, enlightened Morcheeba when they roll through town, then? Shaved heads and saffron robes? Not likely. "I guess we're not really going down that road," she says. For now, the Buddha that brings them inner peace will still be found in their bong bowls. And there's plenty of Big Calm to be found right there. At Cabaret with guest Jim White, Tuesday, April 28, 8:30pm, $15+taxes
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"It's the calm after the storm, if you like." Morcheeba's chanteuse Skye Edwards is explaining the tranquil vibe of the band's recent CD Big Calm. It was an intense year that divided the release of their debut Who Can You Trust? and the recording of the new disc. A year that saw Morcheeba rocket out of obscurity to pull in close behind Portishead and Massive Attack in the Great Trip Hop Sweepstakes. But beyond juggling a hectic tour schedule and keeping the media hounds at bay, Edwards saw a more personal project come to fruition.