Everyone loves to debate which bands that have been lying dormant for years will become irrelevant the fastest. But if anyone suggested Portishead’s first two trailblazing contributions to trip-hop would fade to the periphery with the new millennium, they were sorely mistaken.
Since 1997, the only peep heard from the gloomy Bristol trio was a discreet solo album from lead singer Beth Gibbons, but in its busiest week in almost 11 years, Portishead manages to headline the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and release their aptly titled album, Third. After Europe’s All Tomorrow’s Parties festival last year, Third leaked and picked up a steady Internet buzz. Though no one should expect a Portishead album to make them giddy, this is the most excited you should ever be for 49 minutes of utter despair.
The instrumental bulk of the new album consists of a seamless layering of electronic drumming, synthesizers and violins. Portishead affirms its ability to adapt by utilizing lugging and steady instrumentals instead of over-the-top, dramatic beats. Adrian Utley and Geoff Barrow take the backseat and allow Gibbons to infuse the album with her melancholy and eerie voice.
When it comes to lyrics, the band doesn’t depart much from its tried but true themes of depression and longing; lyrics shift between angst-ridden ballads and mopey love songs. Creepy songs such as “Silence” and “Hunter” highlight both haunting lyrics and Gibbons’ whispering, floaty voice.
But as the album continues, it slowly reverts back to the band’s trip-hop roots. Some songs are surprisingly self-referential; the single “Machine Gun” is backed by synthesizing intentionally reminiscent of gun spray. “Nylon Smile” begins with up-tempo, complex beats but succeeds in staying beautifully sad and wanting; Gibbons wails, “I’d like to laugh at what you said/ But I just can’t find the smile/ Cause I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve you/ And I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Even with her impressive music, Gibbons still “can’t see nothing good.” The song ends abruptly, and the last four seconds are silent before the tracks switch. On “The Rip,” Gibbons demonstrates her remarkable ability to hold a note – she stretches the phrase “will I follow” for more than 30 seconds – and the instrumentals will remind listeners of the dense electronic element Portishead is known and loved for.
Despite the sensibility and control of the previous tracks, the best song on the album is “Plastic.” Vocal re-recording and echoing complement an impressively inconsistent array of instrumentals. It’s like a sampling of what the band is capable of electronically, and each segment is better than the last.
Third probably cannot be grouped with Dummy and Portishead in the trip-hop genre the band pioneered, but the album’s deviation from form proves perfect for the new slant in the contemporary musical climate. After a delay similar to Chinese Democracy, fans giving up hope can be reassured – Portishead’s innovative output was well worth the wait. If you’re not quite ready for that feel-good summer album, break out the tissues and download away – you won’t be disappointed.
diversions@dbk.umd.edu
RATING: 4 STARS OUT OF 5
