At the height of grunge, Morphine sounded like nobody else. The Boston trio built their own strange, seductive musical language (coined 'low rock' by frontman Mark Sandman), built around Sandman's two-string slide bass and unmistakable voice, Dana Colley's baritone & tenor saxophone, and stripped-back drums (Jerome Deupree, Billy Conway). They became one of the defining cult bands of the '90s, but their story came to an abrupt end in 1999, when Sandman suffered a fatal heart attack on stage during a concert in Italy. More than 25 years later, 'Cocoon' offers an extraordinary final chapter. Its eight songs began during Morphine's late-'90s sessions on the path toward what would become their final album before Sandman ultimately shelved the material. Rediscovered in the band's archives decades later, Sandman's life partner and Morphine estate manager Sabine Hrechdakian and producer Paul Q. Kolderie transferred the original tapes and carefully assembled this unified collection of Morphine songs. Dana Colley returned to add new saxophone parts, and Kolderie then brought new mixes to the table. Rather than a collection of demos or outtakes, 'Cocoon' reveals a band still pushing forward, and a fully realised Morphine album that somehow waited nearly three decades to find its way into the world.
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