Friday 17 October 2008

Top 100 Albums - #17: Fragments Of Freedom (2000)

Morcheeba's third and final entry is Fragments Of Freedom, the follow-up to the highly successful and critically acclaimed Big Calm (1998, #54).
Add ImageAfter the tentative release of two EPs in the second half of 1995 (Trigger Hippie and Music We Can Hear respectively), Skye Edwards & the Godfrey Brothers set out their trip-hop stall with their debut album, Who Can You Trust? (1996). The album received little real airplay but attracted the praise of critics, with AllMusicGuide.com calling it "a hauntingly atmospheric - and quite terrific - debut."¹ After spending much of 1997 on tour, the band returned to the studio to record the follow-up. The resulting album, Big Calm, saw more poppy elements introduced to compliment their roots, a reflection perhaps of the declining fortunes of bands like Portishead and Massive Attack. The more successful tours and reviews for this album convinced the band to continue moving in a pop direction.

'World Looking In' is an enticing opener, beginning with Skye slowly whispering her way into the mix. The departure from the previous album is marked: the production is glossier and Skye is more syrupy in her tones. But we still get a decent, albeit spartan set of lyrics, delivered with a whistful feeling of abandon. The more light-hearted, whimsical mood is underscored in the final minute by the acoustic guitar, hinting at its widespread use on Charango (2002, #18). In all, this is a good start to the album, setting out the new sound without being overbearing.

'Rome Wasn't Built In A Day' has a lot more to live up to. Being the first single, it has to secure your attention so that the rest of the album becomes desirable. It doesn't disappoint. As on the previous track (the second single), we get a relatively simple set of lyrics, but these are made up for and counterpointed beautifully by both Skye and the brass section. With its multi-tracked female vocals, this has a gospel feel to it which helps to distinguish it from other featherweight singles of the day. It's a very catchy little number, which sung by anyone else would have been forgettable, but in the hands of Skye it is very, very good.

Having got our full attention, 'Love Is Rare' takes things up a notch, drawing us slowly into the rest of the album. It builds on the previous track, keeping the brassy, flashy feel but bringing the drums further forward. The lyrics remain simplistic and teasing, as in the first verse:

You've got a rocket in your pocket
Why can't you just let me be?
Have you no eyes in your sockets
Or are you just pleased to see me?

Beneath this rather cosmetic veneer, however, there is a proper song underneath. The vocals may be relatively anodyne, but they have a feistiness, at least in the first half, which drives them forwards and prevents the track from becoming boring. Meanwhile, the bombastic drums and heavy, funky bass will keep your head bobbing long after this has finished.

As good as 'Love Is Rare' is, it can't hold a candle to the next track. 'Let It Go' sees Skye relaxing back into a more silky mode of singing, neatly juxtaposed against the heavy sounds emanating from behind her. The verses are very well-written, ridigly structured like a lot of Morcheeba tracks but still capable of titillating you. But it's the choruses that properly impress. The trumpets sing out between lines as Skye pushes the limits of her voice, achieving something wonderful along the way. In the bridge we get a great 1970s synthesiser solo from Ross Godfrey, and in spite of the inexplicable sampling in the fade-out, this is a properly brilliant track, not least because it makes you feel happy without feeling guility at the same time.

'A Well-Deserved Break' is as hard a track to like as it is to dislike. On one level, it's a pleasant, chilled-out workout on acoustic and steel drums. It's a loop at heart, like most Morcheeba instrumentals, but it feels like it is going somewhere. In the end however, this goes on for far too long, as if the band had inserted it to meet the length requirements of their label.

'Love Sweet Love', meanwhile, is a million miles from filler. It's a lot dancier than 'Let It Go', but Paul Godfrey's scratching and quicker tempo are beautifully matched by Ross's bubbly electric guitar, while percolates through the foreground like a Joe Satriani solo played at double speed. In the verse, the tempo is taken down with some soft jazz drumming, giving Skye all the room she needs - and she doesn't let you down, producing a dance track with a personality as well as a kick. And when the male vocal part comes in - courtesy of Mr. Complex - it doesn't ruin the track as Pace Won's work did on Charango. It's a stonker of a track.

Unfortunately, the next track is less of a stonker and more of a stinker. 'In The Hands Of The Gods' features Biz Markie on vocals and is quite simply the most atrocious song this band has ever produced. Not only does this have the worst intro ever written for any song, but Markie is an appalling lyricist, producing rhymes so embarrassingly poor that they might have come from a white man trying it in the 1980s. It's insanely terrible, bad enough to make you cringe and spill your guts, that such a thing should end up on a Morcheeba album.

If, however, you have patience and guts still left over, you are rewarded with two amazing tracks. The first, 'Shallow End', is in many ways indicative of the new direction of the band. While the previous two albums were dark, heavy and serious, now this band is all about having fun and being relaxed. Skye sums this up as she sings I'm through with feeling deeply. But there is more to this song than self-referencing and reflection. It's a love song at heart, about two people in a relationship looking to take things a little easier. As before, we get some great guitar from R. Godfrey, and the whole thing has a bright, summery feel which makes you want to fling the windows wide open and share your joy with the world.

The other masterpiece, 'Be Yourself', is a little more subtle and a lot more downbeat. At 3:16 it would have been a better choice for a second single than 'World Looking In', largely because it feels more compact and amenable. It's not a lightweight though, by any means; it may have lyrics which are easy on the ears, but there's plenty of stuff going on behind Skye to hold your attention. We get more lovely acoustic, and a fair bit of synthesiser work passed off as brass. It's hardly the most intellectual, thought-provoking song on the planet, but Morcheeba's substance and success as a band has always been built upon their knack for finding a groove. Here they have taken a great groove, shrouded it in great musicianship, and the result is amazing.

'Coming Down Gently' rather lives up to its name: it's not quite as good as the previous tracks, but it's not a massive drop in quality in the way that 'A Well-Deserved Break' would seem. It is slower-paced, and a looped track, but interestingly it still feels like it's going somewhere. You learn to spot the different phrases as they dance backwards and forwards, but the band have left in little touches like the flute solo and the mellotron-esque keyboard at the end, to sustain you in your relaxing trek.

'Good Girl Down' is another amazing track from a band truly at its peak. Skye has often been criticised for not being able to convey a range of emotions in her voice, but once you hear this you will leap at the chance to disagree.² Where before she was merely sultry, or alluring, or teasing, or even just plain sexy, here she sounds feisty, and more aggressive. In fact, this track could almost be described as a light-hearted feminist anthem; the vocals are still sung with beauty, but there is a sting in the tale because they reflect a desire to stand up and be recognised. The presence of Bahamadia on this track helps to bolster this image, as do the elegant but stricken strings and snazzy production. This feels delicate and tight, and yet wild and uncaged, making it something very rare indeed.

The title track, which closes the album, is in true Morcheeba tradition a looping instrumental-of-sorts. While not as bad overall as its counterpart on Big Calm, it's hardly a stand-out. The hi-hat at the start is ugly, the guitar meanders aimlessly and the drums sound as unoriginal and as badly produced as they do on a Beatles track (i.e. very poor). It's a tragic way to finish what is otherwise a promising album.

There are, in many ways, a lot of things wrong with Fragments Of Freedom. The production is a little too glossy; the lyrics are not always up to scratch; and it contains one of the worst songs ever written. As I said in my review of Charango, if you view albums more as an experience than as a collection of songs, then the follow-up to this will be more your sort of thing. Even so, there is so much good music on offer here that it seems a shame not to recognise what an achievement this album is. The few let-downs aside, it is a hugely consistent body of work, and because each of the great tracks stand so well by themselves, you can listen to the songs in any order you choose - surely a boon in the playlist generation. Above all, though, this is the peak of Morcheeba's output simply because it is so much fun - you can dance to this album to your heart's content, or play it on a long drive without once getting bored. It is difficult to find music that can be both fun and substantial at the same time, making Fragments Of Freedom a rare thing indeed.

4.00 out of 5

References
¹ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, 'Who Can You Trust?', http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:hxfrxqlhldhe. Accessed on December 8 2008.
² Nina Pearlmann, 'Morcheeba', http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/morcheeba/biography. Accessed on December 8 2008.

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