Portishead – Portishead

Description

This self-titled album simply ups the ante on everything that made their debut so special: the brooding sense of menace, that deep streak of romantic fatalism. Much is made of the cinematic quality of Portishead’s music–and indeed, many of these tracks sound like they should be accompanying some existentialist spy flick from the mid-1960s. But ultimately, it’s singer Beth Gibbons that’s their greatest asset: her vocals gliding effortlessly from the furious (“Cowboys”) to the forlorn (“Mourning Air”); from the exuberant (“All Mine”) to the exhausted (“Only You”)–and all set to the group’s most ambitious and expansive arrangements to date. A majestic, damaged and frequently terrifying masterpiece.