- Label
- Virgin
- Release date
- 8th February 2010
- Genre
- Trip hop
- Buy this album
- Order CD
Long-awaited fifth album from Bristol trip-hop pioneers.
After Robert del Naja worked alone on the last Massive Attack album (2003‘s 100th Window) Grant Marshall has returned and with him has come a resurrection of the brooding chilled mood that defined their sound from 1993‘s Blue Lines onwards.
The initial signs are that the pair’s music has barely progressed in the past 20 years but Heligoland has a grandeur and substance that you won’t find on its predecessors with deep dub mingling alongside strings and guitars to create a sophisticated landscape that’s all of its own.
As ever there are plenty of interesting vocal collaborators. Opener Pray For Rain with TV On The Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe is a mournful march that switches speeds half way though before gliding into a blissful grove. Like much of the album it’s more likely to inspire you to run a bath than hit the dancefloor.
Elsewhere there is more slow magical intensity provided by Elbow’s Guy Garvey on the juddering Flat Of The Blade, while Saturday Come Slow is an epic lament featuring Damon Albarn and Paradise Circus a gorgeous shuffle juxtaposing handclaps and Hope Sandoval’s hushed swoon. There is menace and sadness but also plenty of warmth. You may not like it all at first but stick with it and it’ll last you for years.
More to try:
Burial: Untrue
Elbow: Seldom Seen Kid
David Holmes: Bow Down To The Exit Sign
Zero 7: The Garden
