Skye Edwards

"I wanted to write an album of songs that I could fall asleep to, but it ended up being so much more than a night time record,” Says Morcheeba's front woman, Skye, of her 4th solo album 'In A Low Light’: a sublime collection of 9 beautifully crafted songs. You'll know Skye as the charismatic singer of 8 million album-selling, trip-hop trio: Morcheeba. During their 7 year hiatus between 2003 and 2010 Skye released her debut solo album 'Mind How You Go' (Atlantic Records) recorded with Grammy Award-winning Daniel Lanois (Dylan, U2) and life-long Madonna collaborator Pat Leonard. Her gorgeous single ‘Love Show’ penned with songwriter / producer Gary Clark (Natalie Imbruglia, KD Lang), formerly of Danny Wilson fame, soared to No.1 on iTunes after airing on Grey's Anatomy in America. Skye went on to release two more solo albums. In 2009 came the sensual, intimate 'Keeping Secrets’, released independently through her own label Skyewards Recordings, created with producer Alexis Smith and Grace Jones collaborator, Ivor Guest. Then in 2012 came her third solo album 'Back To Now’, a stunning collection of electronic future-pop with a startlingly bold soundscape produced by Grammy-award winning producer Stephen Fitzmaurice (Sam Smith, Depeche Mode). "I felt completely free with this record,” says Skye of 'In A Low Light’, “I wasn't trying to write songs for the radio, there's not a single or radio track on it,” Skye states proudly. That said, there is a definite sense of melody throughout the album, beautifully captured by her exquisite voice. "Most of the songs started on piano,” Skye continues, "I sat with my iPhone and hit the record button. Now, you have to understand that I'm not a piano player, so a lot of the tunes that I recorded were quite random. But it was a new approach for me, an alternative way of composing a song and especially the melody. My fingers created something entirely different to what I might usually sing." The album opens with 'Give In’; it has a deeply relaxing, meditative quality. Relaxed enough to sleep to but with an odd, strong energy that makes you want to listen over and over again. It has an unusual kind of lead melody that is quite mesmerising. Skye worked on production with her long time writing partner and husband, Steve Gordon. She adds, “Once I had a handful of tunes on piano, we set about writing lyrics and recording the demos." They then sought the talents of composer / producer Robert Logan (you can hear his beats and textures on the Grace Jones, Hurricane album), Emmy nominated for his composition on Alex Gibney's HBO documentary ‘Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God’, along side producer Ivor Guest. Robert blends acoustic and electronic instruments and sound sources including voices, field recordings and a Hungarian cimbalom, to create a sound that is minimal and detailed at the same time. He was excited to work with Skye and said, “because these guys are great songwriters, I knew the results of collaborating would be excellent, thoughtful and accessible with well-crafted songs (in the traditional sense) that would also have an 'otherness' to them. That is what makes 'Here Is What Is' (track two on 'In A Low Light') especially beautiful,” says Robert, ”maybe because it makes me feel connected to my recent journey to Atlanta. I love that sense of memory and dreaming.” "I was introduced to Robert by Ivor Guest, who produced several tracks on my 2nd solo album, Keeping Secrets,” says Skye, "Robert is not only a phenomenal composer, producer and programmer, he's also a very accomplished pianist. We wrote two songs with Robert, he's an absolute dream to work with, very intuitive and I loved how he created subtle layers and textures for each of the tracks. The soundscapes that he conjured up were truly magical. Plus, he was able to incorporate some of the production ideas that Steve and I originally came up with." Their writing collaboration can be heard on the track 'Storm' which has a dark, 'under your skin', cinematic element that doesn't disturb, but does make the music stand out. It is immediately followed by the track 'Cry' that offers an intimate headphone moment. It has a restrained lushness and the cathartic lyrics are emotionally warm and truthful. Skye also used a little musical science for a couple of the songs; "I was wanting to make mellow relaxing music that sends you off to sleep so I looked into using Binaural Beats.” When listened to on headphones, Binaural Beats can help induce a relaxing, meditative state of mind. This was something that Robert found fascinating. "It was thrilling to make hypnagogic, trance-inducing tones,” he said, “the idea of doing this in a subtle, 'undercover' way at some points in Skye's record really appealed to me.” 'In A Low Light' is an elegant and mesmerising album; the deceptively complex production adds a great sense of drama to the songs. This can be heard in the track 'Dead and Buried' for example; it is wonderfully Lynchian with it's slow rippling beat that has a somewhat kinetic energy. With Skye's mellifluous, evocative voice casting an hypnotic spell, this album makes for surprisingly pointed listening that you'll want to stay awake for. You can buy a signed copy of the Skye|Ross album on CD & Vinyl now!