‘Heligoland’ – Massive Attack

Heligoland

They say you can judge a person by the company he keeps, and if that is true of bands too then we have always judged Massive Attack on the basis of their guest vocalists. Continuing this trend on paper, it’s all sunshine and roses – contributions from Elbow’s Guy Garvey, Damon Albarn, Hope Sandoval and TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe. No point in doing these things by halves, then, and you’d hope not, as it seems to have taken 7 years to Massive attack to find themselves with their 5th album release.

And for the first half of ‘Heligoland’ Massive Attack have made a record that is distinctly less than the sum of it’s impressive parts. ‘Babel’ is flat and forgettable and even the opener ‘Pray For Rain’(Tunde Adebimpe’s big moment) falls far short of expectations. Lots of noise but not much progress so far, all ambience and no substance, and Mushroom’s absence is just as poignant as it was on ’100th Window’.

Then we hit track number six and presumably Daddy G’s return from sabbatical, ‘Flat of the Blade’. Guy Garvey’s voice is known for it’s careworn quality but as he sighs and wobbles over the rootsy noises in the background he rockets himself to a whole new level of emotion – he sounds haunted to the point of madness. Then we have the eerily innocent-sounding ‘Paradise Circus’, on which Hope Sandoval sighs and growls you into a minimalistic sense of ecstasy. Then ‘Saturday Come Slow’ with Damon Albarn’s return to his anguished teenage I’ve-been-up-all-night years. It’s fantastic.

Any of these songs could have easily fitted on ‘Mezzanine’ – there’s nothing earthshakingly new. But Massive Attack have still managed to make half an album of their thing that no-one else does, which is impressive when you take into account the scores of bands that have tried to copy them over the years.

6/10

Playlist: The Morning After

Picture the scene – waking up face-down on your bed at midday, listening to the rain on the windows and the heartbeat now drumming in your head. You realise you’re still wearing your clothes from the night before so you shed these, climb under the duvet and attempt to read the morning paper before realising it’s upside down. This calls for some serious lo-fi – something to chill your hangover and get you ready for the inevitable fry-up that will come mid-afternoon.

1. The Dandy Warhols – Sleep

2. Jack Johnson – Banana Pancakes

3. Fountains of Wayne – Michael And Heather At The Baggage Claim

4. Jeff Buckley – Lilac Wine

5. The Magic Numbers – Boy

6. Razorlight – America

7. Miranda Lee Richards – Life Boat

8. Jose Gonzales – Love Will Tear Us Apart

9. Joseph Arthur – Honey And The Moon

10. Dan Arborise – Days Even Years

11. Ben Folds – Cologne

12. Coeur De Pirate – Comme Des Enfants

There you go, some nice chillout. Now, I’m off to bed with this playlist and some paracetamol…