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Massive Attack’s debut ‘Blue Lines’ was an instant classic and 12 years down the track they’re back with ‘100th Window’, their fourth original album. A highly anticipated follow up to 1998’s ‘Mezzanine’, the album reportedly enlists the talents of artists like Blur frontman Damon Albarn (although he is not credited) and long-time collaborator Horace Andy. Much has happened to the band (who are in fact really a loose collective of musicians) since the release of Mezzanine, which was their most successful album to date.
First there was the departure of Adrian ‘Mushroom’ Vowles, one of the band’s core members. Robert ‘3D’ del Naja and Grant ‘Daddy Gee’ Marshall then teamed up with Lupine Howl (previously Jason Pierce’s Spiritualized) to record over 80 hours of music. The result was eventually scrapped, and Marshall seems to have bowed out at this stage, leaving del Naja currently the only original Massive member still remaining.
So you’d expect this album to be quite different to the last? Yes and no. Like Mezzanine, 100th Window is an album which you won’t find easy to appraise on a single listening. Massive attack produce slow burn music – the kind that seeps into your consciousness over time; the kind you’ll find wandering through your mind late at night as you go to sleep; the kind that many of your non-converted friends will think is highly over-rated. It’s taken me at least four spins in the stereo to even get a sense of the complexity of programming at work on this release. It’s even better on a pair of headphones.
Where Mezzanine was a brooding and dark, 100th Window is certainly a lighter affair, but it’s still got that identifiably paranoid edge which marks a Massive Attack release. Glitchy beeps and filtered harmonics replace much of the guitar work from Mezzanine, and majestic eastern string arrangements pervade throughout the album. One of the group’s trademarks is undoubtedly their ability to orchestrate intricate drum patterns, and this is even more evident on 100th Window. Asian-influenced rhythms can be heard throughout the album and interlacing snares and recurring hi-hats create a consistent link from track to track
I’ve never been a massive fan of Sinead O’Connor but, as with previous female vocalists Tracey Thorne and Liz Fraser, Massive have chosen well with their official chanteuse. Fraser’s ethereal ‘Teardrop’ was undoubtedly a highlight on the last album and the same could be said of O’Connor on this release, her distinctive Celtic inflections coming to the fore on tracks like the album’s first single ‘Special Cases’. Long-time collaborator Horace Andy contributes his stylized vocals to ‘Name Taken’ and ‘Everywhen’, while del Naja adds what’s become an identifiable breathy vocal to tracks like ‘Butterfly Caught’.
Pioneers of a genre too often propagated into the musical equivalent of wallpaper, Massive Attack are undoubtedly still leagues ahead of the pack when it comes to programming, and sound layering. This one isn’t going to grab you instantaneously but that’s one of the best things about Massive Attack. It’s the intriuging details you’ll discover on repeat listens – as much as the songs as an entity – that keeps you coming back again and again to their music.
Click here to listen to exclusive audio samples from the album from January 27th.
