Massive Attack – Heligoland (Virgin)
3/5
By: Roxy Fisher
Perfect dinner party music? Hell no! Massive Attack have long received this backhanded compliment and it’s just plain rude. Yes, their sound is ambient enough to hum away under the clink of middle class, middle aged wine glasses but to suggest their masterpieces are mere background noise is to miss the point entirely.
Heligoland is here to prove this, arriving seven long years after their last full-length release, 100th Window. They’re back doing what makes them great, with dreamy, moody, emotional songs that could provoke thought in a basted turkey.
The first two tracks, ‘Pray For Rain’ and ‘Splitting The Atom’ are woozily captivating, the latter featuring growly vocals from Horace Andy. This is followed by the beaty brilliance of ‘Atlas Air’, heavy with Robert Del Naja’s whispery tones.
In fact the LP is almost greedy in the wealth of talent it employs. The massively underrated Martina Topley-Bird lends her voice to catchy songs ‘Psyche’ and ‘Babel’ while Horace Andy appears again on the disjointed and fascinating ‘Girl I Love You’. Old pal Damon Albarn pops up in the chilled out ‘Saturday Comes Slow’ while Guy Garvey and Hope Sandoval are just two more names that have piled in to work with the legends of trip-hop.
There isn’t really one stand out track here and no, as a whole the LP can’t quite recreate the power and heart-stopping brilliance of Mezzanine – but there stands the problem of creating your seminal work a while before you’re ready to retire. Fans of Massive Attack will totally get it - it may take the rest a little longer, but Heligoland is worth the effort.
Artists in this article: Massive Attack
Your Feedback
Login to post your comment