VAPORS OF MORPHINE is a power trio consisting of electric baritone saxophone, drums, and two-string slide bass (often also guitar). The baritone saxophonist Dana Colley is the link between Vapors and Morphine, pioneers of "low rock", whose leader Mark Sandman died while performing on a stage in Italy in 1999. Vapors of Morphine performs much of Morphine's repertoire, along with new material and original versions of some selected songs. They expand the ethereal and hypnotic sounds that the group popularized in the 1990s and explore their influences, from African music to Delta blues. The band was formed over a decade ago by Dana Colley, the singer and multi-instrumentalist Jeremy Lyons, and the original drummer of Morphine, Jerome Deupree. In 2019, the drummer Tom Arey (J. Geils Band, Peter Wolfe’s Midnight Ramblers, Ghosts of Jupiter) replaced Deupree. Their latest album, Fear & Fantasy, represents both a new phase and a return to the roots for Vapors of Morphine. Their arrangements, often exuberant, recall the last album by Morphine, The Night, where Deupree shared the drums with Billy Conway, who had previously replaced him; this time, Arey plays on one side of the album and Deupree on the other. It seems especially appropriate considering that both bands have had a rotation of top-tier percussionists.
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