Can it really take eleven years to make a record? Of course not; and if anyone thinks even for a single moment that all Geoff Barrow, Adrian Utley and Beth Gibbons have been doing since 1997 is laying overdubs and writing lyrics for this record then their grasp on reality is tenuous at best. (Read our recent interview - Ed.)
The flipside of that question is, of course, is any record worth waiting over a decade for? The answer is as before; there have been more than enough great records released in the last eleven years to prevent even the most diehard Portishead fans from growing bored. The odd band demonstrating lackadaisical tardiness in their release schedule is hardly a tragedy.
And of course Portishead aren’t alone in taking their time; three other decade-plus gaps between albums stick out in recent years – Bark Psychosis, Scott Walker and Kate Bush, each one coming back after everyone had forgotten they existed, and delivering material of the highest quality. Not to mention the countless other artists with shorter, but still pretty long, holes in their work ethic; Les Savy Fav and The Breeders each took six years to produce their latest offerings. Long waits aren’t uncommon now. Hell, Mission of Burma exist. Maybe one day Fugazi will again.
Which is to say that it ought not be a big deal that Portishead have taken a while to come up with Third. Lest we forget; Beth Gibbons made a wondrous solo album in collaboration with Talk Talk’s Paul Gibbs (and Adrian Utley) only, oh, five years ago. What ought to be a big deal is that Third doesn’t so much mollify, exceed or fail expectations as nullify and obliterate them; this record is not the kind of thing that just-blooded young lawyers would leave on the coffee table, unless they also left a severed-head beneath it.
Several individual songs drift by almost unnoticed at first, contributing little more than a sense of unease to the collective memory of the album; an impression of oppression. Those numbers that do stand out, though, drag the record close to magnificence; ‘Silence’, just by dint of being first and taking so long to be recognisably by the same band as ‘Glory Box’ (a familiarity only made explicit when Gibbons starts singing, over two minutes in), is awesome, propelled by a drum-loop that would drive Sisyphus to despair, and dots of Morse-code-ish guitar that offer no message of hope.
In 2002, rumours abounded that Portishead’s third record would be called Alien. They were wrong, but not without truth; much of Third sounds like the soundtrack to a genuinely chilling sci-fi horror film. It’s not an accident that the fascistic, ossified and mechanical rhythm of ‘Machine Gun’ finds itself transformed and consumed by crazed Terminator / Blade Runner / Vangelis synthesisers.
The sound throughout is muffled and dark, cinematic still, but differently. ‘The Rip’ swells electronically just over two minutes in and suddenly becomes magnificently repetitive. The oddly falling in-and-out of earshot shuffles that open ‘Plastic’ are perhaps the closest thing here to trip-hop, only the crackling, noir-ish strings one might expect of Portishead are replaced by shuddering, unsettling electronic echoes.
‘We Carry On’ is Third’s highlight, a monolith at its centre that is stomped into submission by a serial-killer drum pulse, and which climaxes in an intensifying storm of gothic guitars, before ‘Deep Water’ offers brief, disquieting acoustic relief. Every speck of dusty spittle on Beth Gibbons’ lips is apparent in ‘Small’, the opening minimal pain, the mid-section and finale run through with weird bass ululations, fucked-up cello, scraping guitar and dissident synth. Huge piano chords, tick-tocking cowbell percussion, and squalling, corrupted brass characterise ‘Magic Doors’ while the doom-laden drum rolls and cancerous, radioactive bleeding edges of ‘Threads’ close the album in a clamour of nuclear alarms.
Third is not a pleasant experience. Even Mezzanine and Maxinquaye, perhaps the only other two records to have come from Bristol’s stable that come close to this in terms of foreboding aura, seem like twinkly children’s albums by comparison. Both ancient and futuristic, a mildewed signal from a more advanced culture that failed to survive the ice age, Third doesn’t make you pay attention to its desolate contours, but rather stare out of the window, creeping panic causing your mind to dart in a million dark directions at once. This is not a nice record. It is music without a time, a place or a context. Inertia, solitude, suffocation. Third isn’t so much mourning, as dead.
Good write-up
I don't think Portishead fans will have been "bored" by the lack of an album for 11 years, but given the quality of 'Third', they might now be saddended that Barrow & Gibbons didn't manage to release 4 more albums during that period. 'Third' is, as you say, a difficult album to experience, but simultaneously, from the first listen, it seems like an instant hit.
I think the album will probably do pretty well in the charts. Never underestimate the love that so many people still have for their earlier work. And I think that goodwill should carry over to the new record.
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Now listening for the first time and it's very rare for me to enjoy an album this much on the first listen. Fantastic!
Bark Psychosis & Talk Talk
...references? this must be a Nick Southall write-up!
nah it's very good Nick, agree with a lot of it though I feel a lot stronger about the LP generally and would give it 10/10 (even though it's not faultless - second song is rather weak, for example, and two songs have very unsatisfactory endings). But great art doesn't need to be faultless.
I'm sure 'soundtrack to a genuinely chilling sci-fi horror film' is approximately something I've said before about Third, re 'Machine Gun', 'We Carry On', and 'Threads' in particular - the climax to 'Threads' is like the day The Triffids arrive in town (not David McComb).
and remember Vashti Bunyan! She wins the comeback prize.
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are you related to neville southall? that would be way cool
No.
But I am apparently related to Howard Wilkinson by marriage in the dim and distant past. And Florence Nightingale too, even further back.
From the 3 tracks I heard
it all reminded me very much of early New Order / late Joy Division. Hooks bass lurked in there, the drum rhythm in Machine Gun is pure Blue Monday and the creeping sense of paranoia fitted too.
Not that this is a bad thing, just that it did feel a bit similar at times...
wodnerfull and dark!
They don´t use the old formula, they don´t trick around with novelties, the quality of the voice is the common link between the three albums, but now beth gibbons has found some new landscapes to move through. haunting and, yes, old word, breathtaking indeed! There are only a few albums in 2008 I appreciate that much: Willard Grant Conspiracy: Pilgrim Road (Talk Talk fans, listen!!; a Glitterhouse release)and "No Kids: Come Into My House" (on Tomlab)
I'm just reiterating what I've posted before
but this record rocks my world so much right now.
Machine Gun has set the bar for track of the year for me, though We Carry On comes extremely close (has nobody else noticed how much it seems like a cross between both Memories and Careering from PiL's Metal Box?)
Certainly
a difficult listen, but rewarding nonetheless. Great review!
And those synths at the end of Machine Gun, oh yes.....
I'm fairly sure that The Rip
is the most blackly beautiful, affecting thing I've heard for a long time. Now that's how you do a quiet/loud transition! And there's something about Gibbons' digitally repeated voice echoing through it that.. I dunno, it's disturbing and wonderful at the same time.
Tosh!!!
Extremely disappointed by this album. Sounds as if it has been compiled by amateurs. 'Machine Gun' is literally a poorly played drum machine with a bit of synth at the very end. I saw them play this track on Jools Hooland show. They were very intense and were all bobbing in time to some perceived tune. Very Arty!
I think that is the problem with this album. Not one track on here seems to have a tune. I don't want just sound-scapes, sounding as if they have come from a Terminator movie.
The music doesn’t go anywhere. It doesn’t move me or create any emotion other than boredom.
Dummy was great. Portishead not so good. Third is simply bad.
^
no.
You just
want the same old Portishead right? I have to admit I wasn't immediately taken by this album, and I much as I hate using the word, it's a grower.
Also, Machine Gun:
how to make an anthem with a drum machine. Just say the name of the song to someone, and see if they go:
"BUH TSH
DER-NER-NER-NER-NER-NER-NER-NER
BUH TSH
DIGGA DIGGA DIGGA DIGGA"
The sound of darkness...
This record is beyond what I had hoped for...
I know the band has been upset at the leak and downloading but quite honestly - I downloaded and subsequently ordered that crazy $90 box set!
I am an old f**ker though - LOL
weak
it sounds like a bunch of half-formed song sketches and snippets of jams. no cohesion, little substance, and after an eleven-year wait it's a massive disappointment.
yet i guarantee that it will continue to get praised for its "obtuse brilliance" and "haunting dissonance" and "expertly crafted paranoia" even though it is simply a weak, uninspired album.
Partially agree with this
I like it, but I'm getting a bit sick about the over-praise. It was inevitable that everyone would hail it as the second coming, but it's fairly average. Most of the songs float by without you even noticing. It reminds me of 100th Window more than Mezzanine, very cold and clinical rather than organic. That album got critically panned, yet this is getting hailed as a masterpiece. Funny that
this album
is simply beautiful.
this album
is, indeed, the above. Truly amazing. I find Dummy to be a dated listen after listening to this one. I expected to dislike Machine Gun after hearing it thru a tinny TV when it was on the Late Night Review (?? was it ??) but it's a great song. I like the johnny rat post above mentioning the drum riff. Could overtake 7 Nation Army in that sense ;)
Makes me want to dig out Mezzanine for another listen, just to compare them.
We Carry On is the one for me. Very Slver Apples. Good review.
Slver Apples
I mean Silver Apples of course
havent heard it as an album yet
but from what i heard at wolves civic tother day, its going to be great.
The track im given to understand is called threads was simply breathtaking, and the rip and silence are both excellent. I cant wait to get my hands on it.
Also - johny rat. YES
Ive been walking around doing that constantly for about 3 weeks now. I certainly get some funny looks.
Only an 8/10?
?
I will admit that when I first heard the first 2 tracks, I thought, "What the hell is this?" I was expecting something VERY different to Dummy, maybe a bit more like Portishead (the album), but more rock or something. Don't know.
Now I think this album is sheer brilliance. As an album, it's absolutely incredible. Love Machine Gun, Magic Doors, Nylon Smile, and Plastic.
But I guess I'm the only one who doesn't get all the praise being thrown at "We Carry On". It's not my favourite.
jonny rat...
"BUH TSH
DER-NER-NER-NER-NER-NER-NER-NER
BUH TSH
DIGGA DIGGA DIGGA DIGGA"
that is brilliant!!!
ps....
why does everything portishead, massive attack or tricky do have to constantly be compared to their own previous and each others previous output, is not the point of wonderful bands that they make music that consistently denies comparison?
Um...
Everything every band ever does is always compared to previous works. It's called history!
Love it
And I love reading reviews about it, because it's so hard to describe and nail with mere words - not to mention it makes naysayers seem insignificant, which is good reference.
And see them live, it's an order.
tbh
i was never excited about this, but having given it a listen, it's probably the best album this year.. so far
third
Well, it's rather avant garde all round, sounds like an experimental Canadian band, or perhaps Sonic Youth doing one of 'those' ones, rather than like heavyweight veterans. And what's more it's got that protools sound!
Seems to me that Beth Gibbons is sounding a bit weak, and a bit flat, like it's all high notes that are a bit too high. Cringe. Sounds more than a little lacklustre. Bit bizarre. The songs don't start or finish properly, and the component parts seem like they're trying to hide from your vision, hide behind another.
Yes the interviewer is right. This album is rather desolate. Don't know if I'm into that really. It sounds like it has no enthusiasm. This doesn't sound like they're cooking, you know. Doesn't sound inspired, bit clutching at straws and patchy quality.
Then we have Threads, and Machine Gun. Threads is what I expected the album might sound like. Machine Gun is what the album should have sounded like.
One must admire their balls for releasing something this pysychadelic, though. It certainly ain't formulaic pop. They even even put some retarded banjo song on!
Don't get me wrong, I'm not slating it, that's reserved for others. This is the work of artists, but it's not the work of artists on form. No masterpiece.