Morcheeba have created some of the most elegant and silky music of the past few years. They have been known to dabble in bouncy pop, but in general their vibe is one of cool sophistication. Live, the music is just as you would expect; luxurious, and lovingly rendered with blues guitar, electronic textures and smooth drum beats. But then other factors come into play. There's Skye Edwards's down-to-earth banter, all delivered in an exaggerated Liverpudlian accent for the benefit of the local crowd. She regales us with the story of a gig in Germany where she narrowly avoided popping out of a strapless top. Then she asks us to sing Happy Birthday for a 13-year-old girl called Rebecca. Beats master Paul Godfrey is even more earthy and irreverent: "You lot would steal the wheels off a jumbo jet if it flew too low."
Undeterred by the gag's cool reception he later makes a comment about curly perms and shell suits. He also spends large portions of the gig dancing in the manner of an embarrassing dad at a birthday disco. Morcheeba use a fair amount of cutting-edge technology, but they are unashamedly a pop band, as happy (if not happier) to please the mums and dads as well the younger people in the audience. The ace up their sleeve is their firm grasp of the traditional craft of songwriting. Anybody who has ever sat down to write a catchy tune knows what a monumentally difficult task that can be, yet there are very few songs in Morcheeba's set that do not contain at least one little melodic pearl. Striving for simple catchiness occasionally renders them banal; new single Way Beyond oozes blandness of Simply Red proportions, yet it is hard not to admire such honed work.
Morcheeba play with the kind of relaxed confidence usually associated with golden oldies groups. They take potentially dangerous sounding elements - hip-hop scratching, unearthly slide guitar - and set them off nicely against each other with no thought of offending anybody. It is a good recipe for survival, and, as long as the tunes keep coming, Morcheeba should grow old together quite comfortably.
· At Newcastle Northumbria University tonight, then touring. Tickets: 0115-912 9000.
