If Portishead's towering 1994 trip-hop masterpiece debut Dummy could be described as the brooding sound of that eerie calm before an approaching storm frront, then it's 1997 follow-up, Portishead, could most definitely be described as an aural exploration of the sheer sonic desolation and destruction left in that particular beast of a storm's wake.
Portishead's Haunting Hooks
An exceptionally haunting listen that manages, through all it's pure darkness and eerie textures and overall atmosphere, to remain echoing in the uninitiated listener's mind until said listener finds him or herself coming back to the album again and again, all the while thinking how creepy and oppressive it is, yet loving it all the same.
Put another way, the album is definitely catchy. Catchy in a way unique to Portishead and their overall sound (not just with their self-titled sophomore release). A way in which the band manage to take deeply unnerving sounds, combine them with other even more deeply unnerving sounds, and synthesize them into genuinely organic hooks that haunt, rather than entice (as with much of pop music's candy-coated hooks).
A Cinematic Listening Experience
Something best heard on Portishead's Portishead, a grainy black-and-white voyage into deep-set emotional (and perhaps even psychological) decay that wouldn't feel too out of place were it used as the soundtrack to a '40s tragic film-noir psychological thriller like Double Indemnity, or, strangely, a Cold War-era '50s sci-fi shocker like Invasion Of The Body Snatchers or It Came From Outer Space.
An all-in-all very cinematic and stately album, in other words. One that, however, never reaches too far into it's cinematic leanings and, instead, perfectly balances it's graceful, focused, and captivating drama and tragedy with the sort of direct emotional expression and heart that makes music in general such the powerful ar-tform it is.
Portishead's Gothic Trip-Hop Sound
Which it most shows itself to be on Portishead where, at any given moment, trashy drums can be found pumping out an insistent and hypnotic pulse, subtle guitars can be heard looming off in the distance, accentuating the atmosphere rather than chewing the scenery, creepy pianos can be droning and echoing off into the unfathomable distance, and smartly-used turntables may be scratching along and adding yet another layer to the overall general unease.
And that's not even taking into account all the fascinating flourishes that give each song that little something extra that makes them truly and completely memorable. Flourishes like the distant and permeating heartbeat rhythm that kicks off the bitterly brooding album opener "Cowboys", the LP-scratchings and crackles that give each track an air of decay, and the '50s sci-fi monster-movie drone that opens "Humming".
Beth Gibbons' Unforgettable Vocals And Lyrics
Flourishes and music that work perfectly in tandem with lead singer Beth Gibbons' uncompromisingly dark lyrics and tragic and emotive (though never overly so) delivery. A unique and diverse delivery that can be venemous on the previously mentioned "Cowboys", obsessive on "All Mine", yearning on "Undenied", cathartic and siren-like on "Half Day Closing" and even soothing (in a deceptive way) on "Humming".
An immensely skilled delivery that has all the right words as a launching-pad. An all-together unforgettable batch of words which, like Gibbons' delivery, range widely in emotion from track to track, resulting in a wide spectrum of emotions ranging from the defeated on "Half Day Closing" with lines like "In the days, the golden days, when everybody knew what they wanted, they ain't here today", all the way to the aforementioned tragically obsessive on "All Mine" with couplets like "Make no mistake, you shan't escape, tethered and tied, there's nowhere to hide from me".
In Closing
And that's just scratching the surface of what's to be found and appreciated on Portishead, an astonishingly dark and twisted yet unbelievably mesmerizing (given a few spins) experience of an album. One that proudly stands shoulder to shoulder with it's monumental predecessor, and on it's own as an oddly engaging album unlike any other.
Jacob Goguen - Jacob Goguen is a professional journalist with an extensive background in the arts. He has acted in short films, as well as with Young ...
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