Massive Attack has dubbed its fourth album “100th Window” and will release it Feb. 10 in the U.K. via Virgin; a North American release date is penciled in for some time in February. As previously reported, the set features guest appearances by Sinead O’Connor and Blur’s Damon Albarn as well as longtime vocal collaborator Horace Andy.
“100th Window” will be the long-awaited follow-up to 1998’s “Mezzanine” (Virgin), which debuted at No. 60 on The Billboard 200 in May 1998 and has sold 395,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan. The set included the single “Teardrop,” which reached No. 10 on Billboard’s Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles tally.
Massive Attack’s Robert “3D” Del Naja, who spearheaded most of the work on the new disc, revealed the track list and more information in posts on the group’s official Web site. The album will have nine songs, including first single “Special Cases,” “Butterfly Caught,” “Name Taken,” and closer “Antistar.” “After ‘Antistar’, there is a 13-minute long bassline to do dinner to/sleep at the wheel to/or f*** your brains out to — it neatly takes the CD up to its 74-minute limit,” Del Naja writes.
Del Naja also explains the genesis of the album’s title. “‘100th Window’ is an Internet privacy metaphor which became the title of a book [by Charles Jennings and Lori Fena],” he said. “The idea [is] that no matter how careful u are — no matter how many security devices u have on your windows — u will leave just one of them unprotected — everyone can and will know everything about u and there will be truly nowhere left to hide.”
Del Naja said that the group, which also features Grant “Daddy G” Marshall, will be streaming the album on its Web site in December or January. He is already breaking ground on Massive Attack’s next album, with plans to “hook up with Tom Waits and Mos Def for that project.”
Here is the track listing for “100th Window”:
“Future Proof”
“What Your Soul Sings”
“Everywhen”
“Special Cases”
“Butterfly Caught”
“A Prayer for England”
“Small Time Shot Away”
“Name Taken”
“Antistar”