Heligoland - Massive Attack

Like many artists, electronic masterminds Massive Attack (known by their stage names as Daddy G and 3D) have been known to take multiple years in between releasing their albums. Sure, they manage to fit several soundtracks and compilations inside those gaps of time, but the true masterpieces we patiently await for are their studio albums. The last Massive Attack album given to us was back in 2003. Released as both a follow-up to the godly Mezzanine and also a solo effort by 3D (after some lineup struggles), Protection was considered shabby and disappointing by some. Now, 7 long years after Protection and over two decades since the duo first arrived on the scene, we are given Heligoland.

I’m a little young to have observed the growth of anticipation for this album, but I suppose that after 7 years there is much to be expected from this group. I think I’m also safe to assume that no one was actually expecting another Mezzanine. There are few artists who can repeatedly top their best work, let alone do it once. But does Heligoland even stand up to Massive Attack’s other albums? Driven by repetition and maintaining a fairly low-profile for the majority of its 52 minutes, Massive Attack’s latest has mainly been beaten to the ground with words like “unimpressive” and “disappointment” (but also received some occasional praise).

The album opens up on a somewhat weak note with “Pray for Rain”. This song mainly rides along its repeating piano-drum pattern (very bland compared to the lush electronic sound we typically associate with Massive Attack), but later rises into a haunting crescendo of ‘oooh’s and ‘ahhh’s. Though slow, the progression through the song eventually becomes rewarding. This climax, however, is completely ruined when the song decides to return to what it was doing at the beginning, allowing us to forget about everything that happened in between.

Disappointingly enough, “Pray for Rain” is sort of a set up for the entire album. Most of the tracks don’t stray from the boundaries they set up at the beginning, putting the listener at a distance instead of inviting them closer. And if they do manage to break new ground, they won't develop on it, but instead run back whimpering with their tail between their legs. “Girl I Love You” may be one of the few exceptions to this general direction of Heligoland. It sings, it doesn’t whisper (take this as literally as you want, the vocals on half the songs sound very laidback and uninterested). Built from thick bass tones, a chorusing brass ensemble, rickety percussion, and all topped with vocals from Massive Attack favourite, Horace Andy, the song draws back to a familiar Massive Attack sound, while also entering a new, exotic territory. The album’s first single, “Splitting the Atom”, a dark droning number, exhibits some of Heligoland’s love of repetition, but uses it to establish its eerie atmosphere. Even though it's not as outspoken as "Girl I Love You", it's still one of the greater highlights of the album. But I do have a feeling that it would lose its charm if it had been placed later in the tracklist and allowed to be overdriven with the monotony of the entire album.

Songs like “Flat of the Blade” and “Saturday Come Slow”, however, are just dull and struggle to contribute something of substance to the album. “Rush Minute” is a total callback to Protection-era sound, perhaps it’s the child of “Small Time Shot Away” and “Name Taken”. Though their child is not disappointing, it fails to try anything its parents haven’t already accomplished. It seems like Massive Attack has forgotten how to make their music as emotionally impacting as it was before. Nearly every song on Heligoland lacks the spark that their older music had.

“Paradise Circus” almost gets away with its restrained vocals and laid-back sound, had not the majority of the album already tried that. On “Paradise Circus”, these elements seem to add to the song’s direction and create a timid-yet-edgy mood. The song could work well as quieter moment on another album, but in this situation the impact of its soothing simplicity is less memorable since Heligoland provides it with nothing it can suppress.

Despite weaving through undeveloped and mediocre moments, Heligoland still manages to catch itself and deliver a strong closer. Like “Rush Minute”, “Atlas Air” is also reminiscent of an earlier Massive Attack; a cross between the moody ambience of Protection and Mezzanine’s dramatic compositions. Del Naja’s (3D) vocals form a slick, catchy melody against the electronic-laden track, and the whole song is rather comforting and pleasant to hear at the end of the album. It may not be as epic and moving as “Group Four”, but it’s a very well-rounded finish. (It’s a shame Heligoland featured so little vocal appearances by 3D and Daddy G though. This album became much more of a ‘guest-vocalist party’ than Massive Attack’s other albums).

With some reassurance from the last track, Heligoland proves to be less of a tragedy to live through than it has been credited to be. In fact, it’s in no way a disastrous album. It’s that lack of disaster, disagreeable or pleasant, (a pleasant disaster?! What’s that?) that makes it mediocre in the end. It’s neither a stain to Massive Attack’s reputation nor a new source for praise and admiration. I’ve found it to be most enjoyable when the songs are listened to individually instead of all at once, since none of them adhere to make the album strong as a whole anyway.

Rating: 6.5/10

(Way to post this a month after it's relevant, right?)

[currently listening to: Better Things - Massive Attack]

Posted by Anna at March 6, 2010 11:50 PM