Originally
published in Skyscraper
Robert “3D” Del Naja said he had wanted
to make the new Massive Attack album “a lot warmer than
Mezzanine,” keeping the edge “without making it bleak.”
So it’s kinda paradoxical that 100th Window turns out to
be the iciest most impenetrable Massive Attack album yet.
The album’s title refers to Charles Jennings’s
similarly titled book, whose theme is the loss of privacy on the
Internet. That theme seems ready-made for a Massive Attack album,
steeped as their previous ones were in paranoia and insecurity.
It proved then a bizarre case of life imitating art when 3D was
arrested shortly after the album’s release for allegedly
accessing child pornography on the Web. He was declared innocent
four weeks later, but the whole incident proves that just because
you’re paranoid doesn’t mean someone’s not watching
you.
3D practically finds himself alone on this album.
Andrew “Mushroom” Vowles left after Mezzanine, frustrated
with the band’s new direction, and Grant “Daddy G”
Marshall bailed on this album too, though he’s said to be
returning for the next one. In keeping with the band’s penchant
for guest vocalists, though, Sinead O’Connor and Horace
Andy provide vocals for several tracks. Ironically, considering
3D’s arrest, “A Prayer for England” is Sinead’s
plea to Jah to protect England’s children. Her brittle voice
suits the proceedings, but also reinforces the chilly vibe I've
described. She’s much more aloof than cuddly.
It’s Horace Andy who steals the show with
surprising silken menace on “Everywhen,” his voice
mixed into a beautiful androgynous drone, any trace of his reggae
roots smoothly erased. The song sounds sinister—just the
sort of atmospheric material we’ve come to expect from Massive
Attack.
3D also “sings” on
four tracks including “Butterfly Caught,” a lovely
song infused with Middle Eastern strings. I say “sings”
because his vocalizations—sometimes spliced and diced ala
Radiohead circa Kid A—have now edged slightly from
his whispered rapping on previous albums towards actual singing.
Overall, 100th Window
ranks as a solid if icy listen, cold comfort for fans who’ve
come to expect nothing less than uncharted territory on every
Massive album. Likely, the problem lies in the fact that the ragged,
organic vibe of the band’s earlier efforts has been replaced
by elegant but clinical studio precision. Despite whatever wrangling
the collective endured, it clearly benefited from the more collaborative
approach the meeting of many minds demanded.
Official
Web site
Robert Stribley
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