A new Massive Attack album always feels like a major event, a bit like a returning comet – because these boys don’t rush for anyone. And in ‘Heligoland’ they provide further reminders of what it is that makes them great, with music making that stays true to the roots of ‘Blue Lines’, but takes in new sounds as well. This record does just that from the beginning, with TV On The Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe providing an excellent vocal for ‘Pray For Rain’, which features a brief burst of light in its central passage before turning in on itself. Further delights lie ahead in the strings that hang like icicles over the end of ‘Splitting The Atom’, and the guitar loops that wind themselves around ‘Psyche’. Other vocal turns come from Elbow’s Guy Garvey, Damon Albarn and Martina Topley Bird, but it’s the established partnership with Horace Andy that once again comes up trumps. 3D and Mushroom themselves have just the same chemistry, and their music retains its atmospheric charms, not to mention the familiar sense of dread that often lurks just out of sight in the background. As with all albums by the band this is a record to grow with over time, time usually spent late night / early morning. It might not be the ground breaking music of ‘Blue Lines’ or ‘Protection’, but ‘Heligoland’ does contain music of great originality, incorporating the familiar mix of soul, dub and reggae as it goes. As a result, it runs both those records close, once again confirming the Bristolians as one of our national treasures.
5 Out Of 5
Reviewed By: Ben Hogwood