Third (Limited Edition Box Set Version) [Vinyl]

Double vinyl album

Etched 12" vinyl of `Machine Gun'

Limited edition print from Nick Uff

USB Tracklisting:

1. Silence 2. Hunter 3. Nylon Smile 4. The Rip 5. Plastic 6. We Carry On 7. Deep Water 8. Machine Gun 9. Small 10. Magic Doors 11. Threads

`The Truly Spectacular Universal Conference Film' (film) `The Rip at Mr Wolfe's' (film) `Ade's House' (film) `Machine Gun' (film) `We Carry On' (film)

LP (Double Vinyl) Tracklisting:

A1. Silence A2. Hunter A3. Nylon Smile B1. The Rip B2. Plastic B3. We Carry On C1. Deep Water C2. Machine Gun C3. Small D1. Magic Doors D2. Threads

Amazon.co.uk
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