MASSIVE ATTACK – ‘100th Window’

So here we are, the first Massive Attack album since the seminal ‘Mezzanine’ closed its brooding, dark doors to us back in ’98. This time out only Robert Del Naja, aka 3D, remains from the trio. Mushroom left the group a couple of years ago and took his wicked vocals with him, Daddy G is apparently ‘chilling’. As per usual, guest vocalists are pulled into the action too; with Sinead O’Connor providing those fragile female vox and longtime collaborator Horace Andy, the reggae flow. Del Naja himself retains his gritty, urban vocal style, sliding over the music as well as ever.

“So what’s it like?” I hear…. the one word summary has to be ‘good’. Massive Attack have set the bar so, so high for themselves with their previous releases (Blue Lines, Protection, No Protection, and the previously mentioned Mezzanine), albums that have chronicled the evolution of the trip hop sound, from Bristol, UK to the worldwide stage.
Overall, the album is an obvious evolution from "Mezzanine", with a similar dark, urban style. Richly textured and at times mesmerising, it’s an album that grows and grows with those late night listens. O’Connor provides some beautiful vocals on ‘What Your Soul Sings’ and ‘A Prayer For England’ (incidentally a remake of the Blue Lines LP classic ‘Safe From Harm’). The stand out track for me is the chilled, atmospheric dub vibes of ‘Everyman’, a song that keeps on progressing, layer after layer. Horace Andy croons on ‘Name Taken’ in his cool style, over a rising, ebulliently stringy instrumental. The ‘hidden’ track is an instrumental version of the great Mos Def collaboration ‘I against I’ – a shame no space was found for the fine original.

While found lacking in comparison to their outstanding earlier work, this is certainly a damn good album in its own right. Compared against the current crop of releases from this genre, Massive Attack are still as important as ever.

For Massive Attack fans this is well worth buying, but newies might want to check one of their earlier three albums first.