It's been a rocky old ride for Morcheeba to date, what with pioneering the trip-hop genre in the late 90s before losing an awful lot of friends with their criminally dull album Fragments To Freedom. Happily, Charango finds the trio returning to what they do best. Inspired by various tropical influences (a charango is a Brazilian guitar made from an armadillo shell), this is a gently melodic collection of downtempo beats which accommodates elements of country, soul and hip-hop beneath its giant world music umbrella. Interestingly enough, the standout tracks are both collaborations - the hilarious Women Lose Weight finds veteran guest rapper Slick Rick Rogers bumping off his wife for hitting the fridge too often, while Skye Edwards's intimate duet with Lambchop's Kurt Wagner may be the best thing Morcheeba have ever done. At times, it has to be said, Charango is just a little too tasteful for its own good, descending into the kind of anodyne pop destined to be ignored at dinner parties. At its best however, it's a breezily enjoyable listen that manages to stay on just the right side of blandness.
