Massive Attack
Massive Attack, "Heligoland" (Virgin)
Release Date: February 9, 2010
That shuddering bass, those yearning vocals, that sense of trouble and doubt: The elements that defined Massive Attack are all still there on the band's fourth album, "Heligoland." But the approach was different. "The first albums were more studio- and sample-based; this is a departure," founding member Daddy G says. "We've toured extensively and through that went from a DJ-based entity to a band format. It's been a comfortable and experimental evolution, and it's completely changed the way we make records." "Heligoland" comes seven years after the band's third album, 2003's "100th Window," but according to Daddy G, it was "seven years in the thought process and eight months in the making." The result is 10 tracks that are stripped-down and song-based, allowing for many distinctively voiced collaborators to shine through. Hope Sandoval, Martina Topley-Bird and TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe all make appearances. The band also worked with Gorillaz mastermind Damon Albarn on the Radiohead-like album denouement, "Saturday Come Slow." "It was a really brilliant experience," Daddy G says of the collaboration. "He is not just the king of Britpop, he's the king of everything."
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