Portishead's Third has been a long time coming, the result of a lengthy creative torpor following 1997's dark, distinctly underrated album Portishead. Importantly, though, they've shaken it. While the core trio of Beth Gibbons, Geoff Barrow, and Adrian Utley remains, this is quite a different band to Portishead's 90s incarnation: gone is the slo-mo turntable scratching and smoky jazz feel, replaced by heavy, brooding rhythms, vintage-sounding electronics, and spindly guitar. Still present, though, is that sense of emotional fracture and deep gloom. "Silence" opens with a dense drum loop which suddenly falls away to reveal Gibbons' voice, cold but magnificent: "Wounded and afraid, inside my head/Falling through changes". "Nylon Smile", meanwhile, is a fine example of Third's occasional folksy edge, an acoustic song reminiscent of Leonard Cohen that, around its midpoint, lifts off on a propulsive electronic rhythm, Gibbons holding one clear, hard note as synthesisers bubble beneath. At times, it's a harsh and foreboding listen: the electronic drums of "Machine Gun" might put off the listener hoping for smooth dinner party fare. But Third is a brave and forward-thinking return, and one great enough to justify its lengthy gestation. --Louis Pattison
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Just awful:
I was really excited when I heard that Portishead had released a new album.
The whole thing sounds like a half baked effort. I listened to it one time and then tossed it in the trash.
Yuch
Temporary Ear Candy - But Deficient In Center:
I cannot say that i'm a fan of Discordinant sound.
Many a musical snob calls this intelligent music.
I call it noise.
It doesn't take rocket science to create garbles of mathematical
sound. Just an analytical mind, & a want to stray far from center. This release is very disappointing in my estimate.
Not in the fact that it is indeed so unlike old Portishead, but that it lacks in any firm tonal center for much of the duration.
As soon as you begin to want to... more info
Holding on to an edge:
Like so many belated follow ups, the pioneering "trip hop" act's self-explanatory release feels partially out of touch, but perhaps that has benefits when the experimentation commences in earnest. The entire process can shift from sounding effortlessly fresh to hopelessly contrived a little too jarringly.
A 5 Star Masterpiece - #1 for 2008:
I have been a Portishead fan from the start and at first I was a little uneasy with the heavyness of the music on this Third disc. Now that I have listened to it over 200 times, I must say it is my #1 pick of 2008. Portishead continues to evolve and this is the future. They are the top of the "trip hop" food chain and as for the other reviews that dogged this "don't you evah," and you wouldn't know good music if it beat you toa pulp. This is a work of Art and deserves the highest of recognition. Buy it,... more info
