Massive Attack
100th Window

THE REVIEW

A semi-dark room, illuminated only by a small window letting in a single rare ray of sunlight, overlooks an isolated street. Inside, intermittent neon lights stay on for a few seconds, at rather long irregular intervals, and thus do not contribute to brightness and visibility. The room is empty except for a small table overflowing with cigarette butts that leave a romantic white smoke and a few complex electronic machines. A man enters, known as 3D, left alone, abandoned by his companions. Enchanted by such darkness, this devastated man turns knobs, presses buttons, and fiddles, bringing forth cold yet exciting electronics.

This is the hypothetical Gestation of "100th window," a record of lights and shadows that enchants and surprises at the first listen: the first seconds of "Future Proof" are enough to be fascinated by it: synthetic beats, an icy cold yet penetrating voice in an almost frosty rap that only for a few seconds hints at new millennium trip-hop, devastating "Butterfly Caught" electronic dark masterpiece, a frightening song in the most literal sense of the word, that sends shivers down your spine, reminding you of its video: 3D slowly transforming into a moth. Impossible not to also mention "Special Cases," the first single, the best track on the album and the most catchy with the splendid voice of Irish pop star Sinead O'Connor, and the final "Antistar," an apocalyptic closure of Massive's most underrated album (but is it still right to talk about the group when it should have been 3D's signature?), which though perhaps musically the least accomplished, stands as the peak of beauty, let’s say on the same level as "Mezzanine," closely followed by the beautiful "Protection."