Heligoland review

Musicians of the Massive Attack do not make a fuss

The artists of the British trip-hop collective Massive Attack do not hurry up with releases and do not try to satisfy the needs of recording companies. Haste makes waste is their credo. This time they needed seven long years to create a new disc. Between the studio attempts, the artists issued the best songs compilation in order to cheer the fans and to draw a line in their career – however, such a lengthy pause can be baldly called risky. Well, such cult-making command as Massive Attack, can afford even such tricks with the listeners. The work over the new long-play was started in the far 2005, and finished only in 2009. The record of this disc was made with the irreplaceable Daddy G and D, vocalist Horace Andy and other guest performers. Such famous artists as Patty Smith and David Bowie were credited to take place in the labor, but finally they did not collaborate with Massive Attack. Tricky and Tom Waits also did not take place as it was planned – however, the recording sessions gave an excellent result even without these guest celebrities. The new disc Heligoland, called so in honor of a German archipelago, will present the listeners with ten astonishing and thrilling tracks in the recognizable stylistics of the band – the songs are so typical of Massive Attack that you are not going to mix them with anything.

Professionalism and intelligence

Dramatic and frightening, filled with the otherworldly atmosphere, these songs create an illusion that the Massive Attack musicians did not make a break in their career for several years. The album opens with the magnificent and pedestrian track Pray For Rain with Tunde Adebimpe on vocals – his voice is wisely tinted with dark and gloomy harmonies. The song Babel follows up with the tender and tuneful vocals by Martina Topley-Bird, and her singing is perfectly contrasted with the harsh beat. From the first seconds of the politically-versed single Splitting The Atom you are going to see that its minimalism is deceptive – this soul-grasping composition is really intensive and tense. Decorated with the sounds of horns and drums, the tune Girl I Love You will remind the listeners of the previous works by Massive Attack, it is fulfilled in their classical style. It is followed by a cute due to Topley-Bird’s vocals track Psyche. The song Paradise Circus with the voice of Hope Sandoval is undoubtedly one of the brightest spots on the whole record – it possesses the memorable bass line, hesitating piano and handclaps, while the climax of the song is keenly stressed by the strings. Such tracks, as Rush Minute, brought back the elements of blues into Massive Attack’s songs – this personal composition, decorated by Robert Del Naja’s voice, goes about the love for life in the mature age. The disc finished with the slow-tempo composition Atlas Air, in which the artists show themselves in their best form and make us sure that they do not need guest vocalists to stay marvelous.

One more successful work

It is well known that any really popular and possessing identity band will always have copycats. For seven years that passed after the release of the last studio fulfillment by Massive Attack to the issue of Heligoland, the artists were unsuccessfully copied so many times that it will be hard to count all the attempts. However, no one was able to create something as charming and mesmerizing as the Massive Attack’s opuses. One of the reasons for it is that only a few musicians have the colossal experience equal to this band’s, and the habit to work in the ensemble without any remorse for one selves – the artists can spend days and nights in the studio, working over the new material until perfection is reached. Seven years passed, and Daddy G with 3D recorded Heligoland, thus presenting the world with the new full-length in their original manner. Professionalism, intelligent approach and smooth team work resulted in a gorgeous and monolith disc. Besides, the members of Massive Attack added elements of rock and blues on Heligoland, which lacked on 100th Window, and it gave the record the shades on soulfulness and liveliness. Although the disc can not boast of many experiments, it did not spoil it. The record is a big and strong comeback on the scene for a band that was absent for more than five years.