The Countdown....#19

by Bijan J. Hosseini

Third by Portishead

They say that good things come to those who wait... Over a decade since their last release, the aptly titled “Third” by Portishead drives the point home. The majority of the tracks are far quicker paced than anything they've previously done. The instrumentations resonate a familiarity without playing the same notes as it were. Gibbons' voice is the one true carry over, and still brilliant as ever. Despite the variations, the theme is the same – and, thankfully, they maintain the ability to sound like no one but themselves.

A unique and strange trip into a trip-hop, trance, ethereal world that is the musical equivalent of Blade Runner (if I had liked Blade Runner), City of Lost Children, Dark City, or even the Matrix (parts anyway). A strange re-imagining of the most influential bands of the genre, concocted by none other than the band itself. As if they decided to take the already odd image, and place it in front of the “funny mirrors”. A wonderful, albeit not as relevant, (re)introduction to a new generation of listeners, who've already heard Portishead in its spawned influences like Massive Attack, and others more familiar.

Albums like this are the reason why you MUST own a great pair of headphones. The production alone could have been the reason it took 11 years to release – it's a musical maze of the most wonderful sort. Slants of light revealing; however briefly, things lurking in the shadows, that slip away before the light shines again. Guaranteed to allow multiple listens that will uncover new things every time – pick it up.

My CD sampler 3 tracks for this album are:

Silence

The Rip

and Small