Some bands, it seems, don’t have to actually do very much to maintain a reputation. Granted, Massive Attack are coming from a strong position (and yes, we do call Blue Lines,
Protection and Mezzanine a fairly handy opening trio of albums) but they have still been awfully quiet of late, with only one album in the past twelve years to keep the faithful satisfied. Yet still even the hint of activity has been enough to send certain sections into fits of anticipation. The prospect, then, of a whole album has really got them excited.
Massive Attack, however, seem less than thrilled at the prospect. Nor do they appear particularly bothered about keeping pace with the young bucks. ‘Pray For Rain’ eases Heligoland into life and to be honest it could be 1998 all over again. With vocals from TV On The Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe, it sets the tone in brooding, magnificent fashion, swiftly followed by the first appearance of regular contributer Martina Topley Bird on the drum ‘n’ bass tinged ‘Babel’.
The band’s resistance to ship in a load of big name guest vocalists is one of the record’s strong points, creating a continuity that allows the record to hark back to their heroic past (the three way vocal between 3D, Daddy G and Horace Andy on ‘Splitting The Atom’ is sublime). Not that there aren’t guests, it’s just that their contributions are kept within the album’s overall feel. Hope Sandoval contributes yet another drop dead gorgeous female vocal to ‘Paradise Circus’, while Damon Albarn appears on the hazy ‘Saturday Come Slow’. Only Elbow’s Guy Garvey misfires on the completely aimless ‘Flat Of The Blade’.
Despite all this, why then does it feel that Heligoland falls short of what we might have expected, or at least hoped? Maybe because it’s missing two or three (or even one to be honest) truly great moments – an ‘Unfinished Sympathy’, ‘Protection’ or ‘Teardrop’, the kind of song that helmed those classic albums. They do come close, particularly on that opening track and the fired up closer ‘Atlas Air’, but ultimately there’s nothing of that sort here, nor is there anything that breaks any new ground. It’s not a disaster, yet nor is it anything stunning. Heligoland is a solid Massive Attack record, something that still makes it an achievement in 2010 yet is it enough to enhance that fearsome reputation? It emerges intact, certainly, but a long way off from being enhanced.
