''Big Calm'' is the second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by English

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

group

Morcheeba Morcheeba are an English electronic band formed in the mid-1990s with founding members vocalist Skye Edwards and the brothers Paul and Ross Godfrey. They mix influences from trip hop, rock, folk rock and downtempo, and have produced ten regul ...

. It was released in March 1998 by

Indochina Records Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

and

Sire Records Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gotteh ...

. The album reached the top 20 of the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

, while the single "Part of the Process" charted in the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart in August of the same year. "The Music That We Hear", included on special-edition versions of the album, is a reworking of "Moog Island" from Morcheeba's debut album, '' Who Can You Trust?'' The album cover was inspired by that of the 1966

Ray Conniff Joseph Raymond Conniff (November 6, 1916 – October 12, 2002) was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s. Biography Conniff was born November 6, 1916, in Attleboro, Massachusetts, United S ...

compilation ''Hi Fi Companion''.

Recording and composition

The recording of the album started on Christmas Day 1995, as Morcheeba members Paul and Ross Godfrey were awaiting the release of ''Who Can You Trust?''. After basic demos had been laid down at their home studio on a cassette tape, the duo brought in vocalist

Skye Edwards Skye Edwards (born Shirley Klaris Yonavieve Edwards; 27 May 1972), sometimes simply Skye, is a British singer. Her career began in the mid-1990s when she and the Godfrey brothers (Paul Godfrey, a DJ, and Ross Godfrey, a multi-instrumentalist) fo ...

and a number of guest performers to complete the record. Steve Bentley-Klein provided a string-arrangement for "The Sea", while "Let Me See" features Dom Pipkin on organ and

Jimmy Hastings James Brian Gordon Hastings (12 May 1938 – 18 March 2024) was a British musician associated with the Canterbury scene who played saxophones, flute and clarinet. Early life Hastings was born in Aberdeen, Scotland. He started playing the saxop ...

on flute. The song "Blindfold" had been written for the film ''

She's So Lovely ''She's So Lovely'' is a 1997 American romantic drama film written by John Cassavetes and directed by his son Nick Cassavetes. At the time of its release, it received special attention because, eight years after his death, it was the first (an ...

'', but was not deemed ready for the feature. "Friction" features Spikey T while the title track includes contributions from Jason Furlow and

DJ Swamp Ronald K. Keys Jr. aka DJ Swamp is an American hip hop DJ, turntablist, producer and vocalist. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. He currently resides in Los Angeles, United States. In 1996, he won the title of US DMC Champion, his ...

Track listing

Personnel

– vocals *Paul Godfrey – Lyrics, Production, beat sample programming, scratching, live drums. *Ross Godfrey – Chords, all guitars, sitar, pedal steel, lap steel, clavinet, Hammond, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer piano, drums, EMS synthesizer and MKS 80 *Pete Norris – sound manipulation, synthesizer programming *Spikey-T – Jamaican vocals on "Friction" *Jason Furlow aka Nosaj the Great – rapping on "Big Calm" * Dave Lee – French Horn on "Over and Over" and "Fear and Love"

Recording and composition

Track listing

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References