Morcheeba
The Antidote

THE REVIEW

The antidote... is exactly what I need to get through the listening of this terribly boring and useless album unscathed. With Daisy Martey stepping in as the vocalist replacing Skye Edwards, it seems that the insertion has screwed up all that little magic that held the Morcheeba project together. What was once a band that had released masterpieces like the murky and dark "Who Can You Trust?" or the equally valid "Big Calm," and gradually diluted their inspiration in phases, up to the decent but unremarkable "Charango," with this latest offering (?), what remains of Morcheeba presents us with a mishmash of pop-triphop-soul-R&B songs that are neither fish nor fowl.

Not a thrill while listening to the tracks, not a shred of emotion, or fantasy in the arrangement, a peculiarity in the voice (quite anonymous and really "normal" although she tries her best to replace the previous sensual and seductive one). They don't even manage to convince me with the lyrics (and evaluating a band like that based on the lyrics says a lot). I admit it: I didn't even listen to the whole album (I was four songs short), but given the trend, I understood that there was nothing appealing. I won't even go into the individual tracks because it would be exhausting and embarrassing to find a hook to attempt to express a hint of judgment. It would be like judging the richness and variety of flavors of 10 glasses of plain mineral water... An almost outrageous and irritating album for those who loved the early Morcheeba, with an easy-pop twist that almost matches that other monstrosity "Fragments Of Freedom" (but which doesn't differ much).

For the record, the only little disc that, as a propitiatory and superstitious gesture, I broke with my bare hands while letting out a liberating semi-voodoo shamanic scream. A tribal and inexplicable ritual (for that little bewildered group that saw me in action outside Messaggerie Musicali last Sunday) that I hope served as an "antidote" and "vaccine" for all the shitty CDs I will listen to and promptly review here.