Pitchfork

Portishead
Portishead
[Go! Beat/London]
Rating: 8.2

It's all true. The new Portishead record is different, yet very much the same. Weird? Yes and no. The sound of Portishead is strikingly similar to that of 1994's groundbreaking Dummy. The difference lies within the actual music. Whereas Dummy was comprised of instantly memorable, bleak and dreary tracks, Portishead's melodies are more jagged and interesting. Beth Gibbons' aching yowls are also more distinguished and dramatic.

Songs like "Elysium" and "Half Day Closing" probably won't really strike you until you've got the melodies in your head, though tracks like "Over," "Humming," "Only You" and the sensational closing track, "Western Eyes," will grab your attention immediately. But when it's all said and done, and the record has sunken into your skull, and is permanently engraved in that giant slab of cold concrete that is the history of your life, Portishead comes very close to matching the twisting, dark road spirals of Dummy. Something tells me it's only gonna get better from here.

Ryan Schreiber