Portishead were one of those bands for me that came along at a crucial point in my life and will always remind me of that time. So I was quite excited when news surfaced that after about 10 years, Portishead were about to finally release a new album, entitled 3rd. Now, before I go on, a disclaimer of sorts. Despite having the album since pretty much the day it was released, I've been incredibly reluctant to actually review it, the thought of thinking about it in a critical fashion almost too much to fathom. But here we are.
First off, while 3rd shares DNA with Portisheads previous two albums, there are some important differences. The first difference is the distinct lack of film score samples used. While the album retains that noir-ish soundtracky quality the band were famous for (opening tune Silence sounds like the theme tune to a really cool spy film), they're not relying on other peoples work to achieve this.
The other major difference is just how post-punk the album sounds. Its all quite angular really, with lots of harsh sounds and abrupt shifts during the songs. Hunter is a perfect example in many ways. It grooves along quite languidly, in no real hurry, and then, without warning, a harsh, abrasive keyboard riff spoils the mood in the best way possible, before returning from whence it came and the song resuming its languid pace.
A personal favourite of mine is The Rip, a song that just builds and builds and builds, gorgeous. And then in the middle of the album, there is a 3 song run that just leaves me for dead, with We Carry On (where the band invoke Flowers Of Romance era PIL). into the ukulele led Deep Water with its oldtimey feel, then the albums startling 1st single, Machine Gun, which is all drum machines, vocals and stabby synths.
This album really does live up to the hype, sensational.
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