Portishead. It’s certainly more than a band. The emotional quality of the trio’s music—and the passion that quality has instilled in its fans—makes their imminent return a major pop cultural event. Beth Gibbons, Geoff Barrow and Adrian Utley invented trip-hop—before the term was discredited by the hoards of less imaginative (and—it must be said—less glum) artists trying to imitate them. They anchored the Bristol scene, home to Massive Attack, Tricky, DJ Krust and many, many more. And they had the good sense to disappear after making two magnificent albums and a landmark live recording.
Now, ten years since their last record, the question isn’t so much whether Portishead can still create that make-the-hair-on-the-back-of-your-neck-stand-up reaction (that would be impossible, you have to assume), but rather whether the gloom-hop legends can produce an album that won’t detract from their legacy.
Can they ever.
Having listened to the new LP twice through last night, I can assure all Portishead fans that Third is an absolute triumph, not only worthy of their legacy, but also able to make the hair on the back of your neck stand up all over again.
The quick summary goes like this: Third manages to build the same brooding atmosphere of the band’s earlier work but is by no means Portishead by the numbers. In fact, some of the particulars are quite different. It’s clear they have been listening to some rather unexpected things—you can hear faint hints of Hawkwind and Black Sabbath, for instance—and you can also feel the electro pounding of goings-on in current clubland. Still, Beth Gibbons’ voice as crushingly anguished as ever before. And though some new musical sources have been mined, the cumulative effect of the record packs the same emotional wallop as earlier material.One of the most amazing things about the first two Portishead albums—and something that certainly distinguishes them from the work of subsequent imitators and from what became the trip-hop scene in general—is the timeless quality of those albums. Third seems likewise destined to age well, despite the paradoxical fact that it does not merely echo Dummy and the self-titled second album. Perhaps the unifying principle is that all three sound as if they were beamed in from outer space—beamed in from a very dark star indeed.
Even more than the previous records, Third seems meant to be listened to as an album. But here’s a primer on some of the individual tracks, so you know what to expect on April 29th, when Third finally arrives.
“The Rip,” the fourth track on the album, is the song perhaps closest in feel to the old material (“Roads” maybe?). It borrows and reinterprets lyrics from the Stones’ “Wild Horses” to great effect.
Another standout is “Deep Water,” wherein a plaintive ukulele is eventually joined by Beth and stylized doo-wop background singers before yielding to a banging beat. At the start of the song, it’s hard not to think of Beth’s solo album, Out of Season—particularly the mournful folk of “Mysteries.”
The album’s second track, “Hunter,” is punctuated by Black Sabbath-like riffs. Not to worry, though, as the emphasis is on the eeriness of Sabbath’s music, not its heft.
The trio of songs at the close of the album is very impressive: “Small” is organ-based Hawkwind-like drone-rock, followed by the awesome “Magic Doors” and then “Threads,” which fades out leaving only a deep, repeating boom—it’s like an other-worldly gong sounding the impending doom of another ten year wait.
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Comments on this entry:
They played some of the songs from "Third" at the All Tomorrow's Parties in december and they will be playing at Coachella this year... A great band. Fit for caressing a woman in the dark.
Must be nice being press. I would like to hear the new album. But seeing as we have all waited 10 years, what's another month and a half?
I am listening to Dummy as I type this.
Thanks for your enticing review.
I have heard a small bit of all songs on Third and I am struck mostly by "Machine Gun"...
I will give it a full listen a few times before saying good/bad overall...
but right now I am a lil disappointed as I love "DUMMY"... it's not Dummy