Morphine announce posthumous album Cocoon, comprising abandoned 1998 sessions

Cocoon was assembled from multitrack tapes recorded with producers Paul Q. Kolderie and Sean Slade (Dinosaur Jr, Pixies, Hole) during the period leading up to what became The Night, the band's posthumous fifth and (until now) final album. The tapes were left untouched until Kolderie and Sabine Hrechdakian – Mark Sandman's partner – started digitising them in 2023. Kolderie mixed the recordings, and Colley added new saxophone to three songs.

Colley said "coming back to these recordings years later was a surreal experience. It was like having one foot in the past and one in the present, with my saxophone bridging the gap."

The album's title track is out now, a newly mixed version that has not been heard before.

Morphine formed in Boston in 1989, built around Sandman's homemade two-string slide bass, Colley's baritone saxophone, and the drums of Jerome Deupree and Billy Conway. Sandman coined the term "low rock" to describe their sound.

Sandman died in 1999 following a heart attack on stage in Italy. Cocoon includes the previously unreleased "Spaceman Charm," alongside recordings that incorporate piano, acoustic guitar, and contributions from several longtime collaborators. Some songs may be familiar to fans from bootleg releases and the 2004 Sandbox compilation, but the album presents the unified collection for the first time.

The album features never-before-seen artwork and photography by Sandman, including a cover image he took of Hrechdakian's reflection in a train window en route to Antwerp in 1998. Liner notes were written by the American poet and essayist Hanif Abdurraqib.

Cocoon artwork

Cocoon tracklist

"Tomorrow"
"Wig"
"Patience"
"Spaceman Charm"
"Justine"
"Moons of Jupiter"
"Cocoon"
"Pretty Face"