Ya know, something that becomes more apparent with every passing year is how rare it is to find artists who continue to expand their creative world decades into their career. Morcheeba have been doing exactly that for more than thirty years, and on this episode of the pod I’m joined by Skye Edwards, the band’s frontwoman and one of the defining voices of 90’s trip-hop. With a catalog that has effortlessly moves between textures of jazz, folk, house, and even country, Morcheeba consistently reminds listeners what’s achievable with imagination. Their ability to transport listeners somewhere entirely new remains a fixture of their music, with their latest album, Escape the Chaos, achieving that in spades. What begins as a conversation about creativity soon becomes something deeper, exploring connection, perspective, and the complicated nature of finding peace in an increasingly noisy world. Throughout our chat, Skye brings her curiosity, warmth, and whimsy that has made her such a captivating artist for so many years. Getting to reconnect with Skye left me feeling deeply inspired, and I think it will do the same for you.

Something that never gets old is the joy of bringing you a band I know you're going to love. Antwerp-based indie pop band High Hi are the kind of group you hear once and immediately connect with, thanks to their infectious blend of vitality and fun. Across their fourth album, Noonday Demon, the band perfectly captures the frenetic yet ever-present energy of anxiety. There's an urgency running through these songs that's irresistible, yet they still leave plenty of room for reflection. High Hi operate as a finely tuned machine, with band members Anne-Sophie (vocals, guitar), Koen (bass), and Didi (drums), remaining in constant sync with one another. In this bonus episode, I catch up with Anne-Sophie to discuss how the band crafted the album, and how themes such as sexism, escapism, and confronting your fears emerge throughout Noonday Demon.

As mentioned within our chat, you can listen to/watch the bands recent performance at Ancienne Belgique in Brussels here and THAT Pukkelpop performance here.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: a musician retreats to a remote area to write songs that are deeply emotive and pierce through the veil of urban modernity? You’d be forgiven for mistaking today’s guest for following that path, but it’s quite startling how much she’s actually carving out her own. RAKEL is an award-winning singer-songwriter from Iceland, whose debut album, A Place To Be, is truly unlike anything you’ve heard before. Throughout the album's 10 songs, RAKEL is reflecting on the remnants of a heartbreak, questioning life as one does in those situations…but the perspective in which she’s doing that is refreshingly unique. With instrumentation that feels lived-in and a voice that’s both intimate and powerful, RAKEL is here to make us rethink what we’ve come to expect from singer-songwriters.