Portishead Entertainment Art "Third" (Mercury) Released April 29, 2008

After becoming a poster band for trip-hop in the 1990s, the new millennium saw Portishead take a notorious leave of absence that would become an industry obsession. Vocalist Beth Gibbons released a solo project of subdued substance, but the fans and critics continued to agonize in internet chat rooms for the next musical gem of electronic blues, no other act managed to contribute with alike finesse. As years passed though, it became increasingly impossible to predict what their next move would be if any.

And so at first listen, Third seems impenetrable and almost disappointingly simplistic. Certainly not feeling like they need to prove anything with grandiose after their shattering 1998 self-titled LP, they decide to explicitly focus on details now, reducing song structures and chord progressions to the minimum. It takes a lot of faith in their reputation to realize they’re not stripping the sound due to an inability to make it bigger. Third wants to appeal to the listener in a more cerebral way, creating ominous sound landscapes of tension and unease. This is not an album for the faint of heart. The tracks still have that familiar trip-hopping pace and feel, but it is achieved more through experimenting with textures, funky drumming and even folk balladry. It’s still a very layered psychedelic sound the band is known for, but at the same time, it’s a lot more direct, stripped and ultimately experimental.

Known for being able to evoke notes at once soothing and disturbing, Gibbons’ piercing vocals don’t fail to fascinate. Whether she’s serenading softly on “Hunter,” wailing like a tortured animal in “We Carry On” or ending the album with a series of painful exclamation points that could break down the walls of Jericho, she continues to be the band’s most powerful instrument.

The new set attacks you with monotonous rhythms and seemingly over-processed effects, then tries to soothe with haunting melodies. The annoying continuous note throughout 6 minutes of “We Carry On” or the terrifying gun effect on “Machine Gun,” is contrasted with the eeriness of “Hunter,” “Deep Water” and “The Rip.” The last may just be the most exquisite ballad the band ever attempted. “Magic Doors” is another truly affecting tune with lush and loud open piano chords of the chorus trying to tame the frantic cowbell in the beat. The closer “Threads” is a standout – a long ascending opus that starts of with just an unfiltered beat, lonesome guitar and vocals but creeps viciously to explode with chilling layers of musical genius you have to hear for yourself to truly admire.

At times sleepy and delicate, other times disturbing and borderline frustrating, monotonous yet frightening, hypnotizing but truly evocative, Third is Portishead’s ultimate effort in interpreting our mysterious psyches. Delivered a few years sooner the album could have been strangely mistaken for safe, but in 2008 it is a necessary reminder of the kind of modern musical artistry you don’t see performed in this millennium anymore. And so in the end, Portishead wins the war of perhaps not musical invention, but definitely true acknowledgment of music as a form of expression that plays by its own rules, challenges the listener emotionally, and is ultimately free from judgment.

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