Product Description

Imaginatively-titled third studio album from illustrious Bristolians whose 1994 debut "Dummy" broke trip-hop all over the world with its artful, haunting and melancholy fusion of torch song, sinister atmospherics and slowed-down hip-hop beats. Coming a full ten years after their last album, the live document 'PNYC', this record sees them going back to the source, digging in the crates for weird and wonderful samplesfrom prog rock, free jazz, techno, industrial and funk on which to work their twisted magic, as well as incorporating some of the folk influence that pervades frontwoman Beth Gibbons' solo work.

Track Listing

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

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28 in Music
• Released on: 2008-04-28
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 49 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Portishead's Third has been a long time coming, the result of a lengthy creative topor 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

Doesn't move their sound forward and is dull
One of the most boring albums I've heard recently, as a fan of 'Dummy' this bears little resemblance to what was an amazing sound with amazing vocals. Here the music sounds old and tired, the vocals are nowhere near as impressive and it greatly disappointed me that only one track (magic doors) comes anywhere near to the brilliance of 'Dummy'.
Every other track on this album is monotonous and a waste of time - but hey perhaps you'll like it! For me I can think of many other groups who still push the boundaries and make interesting tunes while Portishead wallow in this dreary depressing rubbish that doesn't even compare to their debut from ten years ago(?)

Indeterminable songs for mongs
Background music - yes - but other than that sorry i just dont get it ... a collection of beats and signing with no real direction or melody ... if you're a fan then well done you obviously got it - but this is a bit to trippy & out there for me ...

Give me Muse any day of the week!!

Brilliant!
This album bears repeated listening, and after a while it clicks and you realise just how good it is.

The Rip - song of the year