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Morcheeba Changes Up Singers, Renovates Sound

For many music listeners, a band's identity is inextricably tied to the lead singer. But the founding brothers of the British group Morcheeba decided to buck that conventional wisdom by unmooring itself from the idea of a permanent vocalist.

The band came to prominence in the early 1990s with music made for chilling out, and dreamy vocals from singer Skye Edwards. The group's last CD, 2003's Parts of the Process, compiled highlights from four albums along with new tracks and live tour recordings.

When it came time to record again after that album, differences with Edwards led Ross and Paul Godfrey to part ways with her and turn to a very different kind of singer, Daisy Martey. With Martey's voice -- reminiscent of Grace Slick -- and a sound that turned toward '60s folk rock, the CD The Antidote was born, along with a new iteration of the band.

But don't get too attached to that sound either -- Martey has already moved on, and a third singer will join the Godfrey brothers on tour in November.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Elizabeth Blair is a Peabody Award-winning senior producer/reporter on the Arts Desk of NPR News.