What's new with Morphine in 2026?
Morphine is releasing a new album, Cocoon, on December 4th, 2026. The album includes vocals Mark Sandman recorded before he died on stage in Italy in 1999.
My first exposure to Morphine was the movie Two Days in the Valley. The only thing I remember about the movie is hearing Gone for Good and needing to find out more. Later that week I walked out of Radio Kaos Records with my copy of the album Yes. Three decades later, they are still on heavy rotation in my playlists.
Here is a single off of the upcoming album. Have a listen while I geek out about Morphine below the embed. 👇
That hits the spot.
How would you describe their sound?
Mark Sandman dubbed it low-rock. This is how I would describe it in the form of a haiku
minimal alt rock
slide bass, sax, drums, beat poetry
slow and low jazz blues
Why was the band named Morphine?
"The word 'Morphine' comes from the word 'Morpheus,' who is the god of dreams, and that kind appealed to us as a concept...I've heard there's a drug called 'morphine' but that's not where we're coming from...we were dreaming, Morpheus comes into our dreams...and we woke up and started this band...we're all wrapped up in this dream messages, and we were compelled to start this band."
~ Mark Sandman
What about Morphine's history?
Prime Video has a great documentary about the band. It includes commentary from legends Joe Strummer and Henry Rollins. It also introduced me to other bands in the Morphine lineage like The Hypersonics and Treat Her Right.
What are the surviving members doing?
Various incarnations of the remaining members made music over the last few decades. Billy Conway died in 2021; Jerome was still making music a few years ago. Dana was involved in recording tracks for the new album. He is also still touring with Vapors of Morphine.