Heligoland

It's been seven years since we heard anything from Bristol trip-hop afficionados Massive Attack. Their last outing was (for many) the underwhelming 100th Window, an album created mainly by Robert del Naja (aka 3D), as his partner-in-rhyme Daddy G was on hiatus being, well, a daddy. From the potent, claustrophobic opening track "Pray For Rain"--all tribal drums, bleak atmospheres and the contrastive rich vocals of TV On The Radio's Tumbe Adebimpe--it's clear that Heligoland is a bid for former glories. As the record unfurls through the angular, choppy post-punk of "Babel" (with Martina Topley-Bird), the lurching "Splitting The Atom" (featuring the familiar falsetto of regular Massive Attack vocalist Horace Andy) and the pounding, bass-heavy "Girl I Love You", the feeling grows that this is their strongest work since 1998’s Mezzanine. Unlike that album, the band make regular diversions here into dissonance, especially on "Flat Of The Blade", a wonky parade of bleeps and glitches matched to vocals from Elbow's Guy Garvey. But there are lighter moments too, such as the relatively weightless "Psyche" (again with Topley-Bird), the sparse "Paradise Circus" (featuring the feathery voice of Hope Sandoval) and the plaintive "Saturday Come Slow", with vocals by Damon Albarn. It might not be a Blue Lines II, but Heligoland’s thick production, superb guest performances and dense, stoned atmospheres make it exactly the stellar return to form they obviously aimed for. --Danny McKenna