**1/2 Morcheeba

BIG CALM

(Sire/China)

Even supporters of Sky Edwards's gentle, disaffected vocals and the Godfrey brothers' smooth, cool grooves couldn't help pigeonholing Morcheeba's 1996 debut as "Trip-Hop Lite.'' Now this British trio escape that label with a tour de force that includes lush symphonic ballads, catchy upbeat funk, tender acoustic ruminations, straight hip-hop (the slamming title track features rapper Jason Furlow of New Kingdom), even touches of blues and country. The stylistic stretching is sure to set radio listeners humming and clubgoers swaying, but it also thins out the group's mystique. That's a crucial hitch. In the amorphous moodiness of trip-hop, the difference between gentle disaffection and general dippiness is all a matter of depth perception.

-- Franklin Soults