Portishead - Third
MuHead
file and is still waiting loyally for the authentic version has been
thinking: Has Third been worth the 11 year wait?
Portishead Third album art Well, yes, just about. Third is a great
record that, like most of Portishead's back catalogue, takes a dozen
listens to before you even begin to enjoy and understand how its
beauty, complexity, subtleness and dense layers combine to create a
truly mystifying whole.
Don't expect a grand departure or startling re-evaluation that will
cause your world to implode. Third is very much still a Portishead
record like Dummy and their eponymous follow-up. Portishead have clung
to the hallmark sounds that made them uniquely Portishead in the first
place: Eerie atmospherics, claustrophobic turns, the haunting & tender
vocals of Beth Gibbons, melancholic melodies and paranoid beats set to
a cinematic soundscape.
That's not to say that Third simply replicates its predecessors trip-
hop sounds, Geoff Barrow recently called it the big brother to Dummy
and Portishead and he's right. But as much as it borrows from its
siblings, Third also veers off on interesting new tangents and
directions.
Traditional Hip-Hop samples and scratching are replaced by stark
synths, dance-paced rhythms, piano and folky guitars. Silence and We
Carry On initially stand out with their tribal beats, unsettling post-
punk guitar figures and merry-go-round synth keys. The psychedelic
organ on Small turns the track into a deranged Doors song whilst Deep
Water really surprises (and kind of disappoints) with its moon-light
basking ukulele and barbershop backing vocals.
Standout tracks are The Rip, Plastic, Machine Gun and Magic Doors,
which collectively manage to reinvigorate Portishead's sound. From the
beautiful organic-to-synthetic build-up of The Rip, the aggressive and
evil electronica of Machine Gun to the exquisitely chopped up drum
fills on Plastic. Gibbons puts in a beautiful vocal performance on
Magic Doors, the crushed piano chords adding to the artistry and power
of her lyrics.Beth Gibbons
These are the songs that earn Portishead a much needed authenticity
that will see them through 2008 and beyond. But as good as they are,
Third is far from perfect.
There are several occasions (Hunter, Nylon Smile & Threads) where the
tracks seem to amble on without the spectacular crescendos or emotive
peaks Portishead are so fantastic at constructing. Call it
experimental, sub-par, whatever, they simply aren't as good as the
rest (well, not after less than 10 listens anyway!) and the album
suffers as a result.
All this aside, Third is another fine offering and welcome return from
a group who has been sorely missed for over a decade. The NME may say,
Portishead are Back! Back! Back! but somehow it seems as if they never
went away at all.
John Thornton
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