Portishead: Third

2008-04-05 09:57:51

No doubt there must come a time in every band’s career where words, as well as album releases, become meaningless. For acclaimed Bristolian trio Portishead, this time must have come at some point during their eight-year hiatus because they’ve announced their highly-anticipated musical return with an album that is simply entitled Third.
    
And what a return. Taking its cue from 1997’s Portishead, the overall sound on Third is suitably harsh, discordant and raw. Opening track Silence is composed entirely of layered grainy atmospherics and guitar samples. Then Beth Gibbon’s haunting vocals cut in, asking: “Did you know what I lost?/Do you know what I wanted?” It’s bloody creepy and I wouldn’t advise listening to it alone at night.
    
That’s not to say it isn’t good at building an intensely uncomfortable atmosphere. Tracks like The Rip and Nylon Smile are pure synth landscapes which provide a brilliant platform for Gibbons to showcase her arresting vocals. We Carry On is the pivotal track on Third. It’s full of a pulsing, rhythmic menace that’s hugely addictive as Gibbons’ whimpering complements the steady synthesizers and structured guitar riffs. Quite simply, it’s excellent.
    
Deep Water contrasts with the cold futurism on the album, consisting as it does of one solitary acoustic strum accompanying Gibbons’ fragile folky tones. It’s reminiscent of her brief flirtation with the genre, recalling her 2005 collaboration with Rustin Mann. It’s very old skool rhythm and blues, yet strangely in-keeping with the stripped-down production of the album.
    
The flow then returns to stark, hammering syths on Machine Gun and culminates with Threads, a gloriously sinister number that consists of a basic guitar strum with a soft cascading drum climax. It combines all the best elements of 1995’s smash hit Glory Box and 1997’s All Mine but it is utterly devastating in its subtlety.
    
It’s hard to know what type of environment is best for a Portishead album. Third is definitely not the type of fare to play at a dinner party, unless you’re entertaining Nosferatu or maybe the grim reaper. This is a soundtrack to human annihilation, and it’s composed with a skill and mastery that borders on genius. For Portishead, Three most definitely is the magic number.
    
Review: Michelle Dhillon
    

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