Massive Attack
Heligoland

It was a long wait, 7 years since the last studio album ("100th Window", 2003), but the new album strongly proves that Massive Attack are still here. They affirm themselves as the masters of trip-hop, a genre they themselves coined, as well as one of the most talented and appreciated groups in the electronic scene of the past two decades.
 
"Heligoland" is a complete and complex album, with an impressive variety of sounds. As usual, there are multiple vocal collaborations that go beyond the confirmed Horace Andy and Martina Topley-Bird and involve, among others, the talented Hope Sandoval and even Damon Albarn.
 
The album opens with "Pray For Rain", almost like an affectionate caress meant to lead us into their world. Then there's the splendid Martina Topley-Bird, an artist whose career runs parallel to Massive Attack, delving into the same sounds through collaborations with Tricky first, then with studio albums (listen to her latest work, "The Blue God"). Martina makes a fundamental contribution to this album: the powerful "Babel", but above all "Psyche", which rightfully occupies the core of the album. "Psyche", probably the album's most committed and heartfelt track, remains dreamy and ethereal but leaves a small regret towards the first version of the track, the one present in the EP released a few months earlier.
Horace Andy is in perfect shape. His voice is angelic, even in a record with overall cold tones. Worthy of mention is "Girl I Love You", a hypnotic track that seeps under the skin and takes root inside. Also beautiful is "Splitting The Atom", where we truly rediscover the voice of Grant Marshall, which almost single-handedly creates a new genre within the album.
And then there's "Paradise Circus" and the magnificent voice of Hope Sandoval, hailing from the world of country music. "Saturday Comes Slow", and Damon Albarn's poignant interpretation, seems like a cathartic lament that warms like the fireplace of a cabin while it snows outside.
The album closes with "Atlas Air", one of the very few tracks featuring the voice of Robert Del Naja, which ends almost as if to underline the powerful and energetic sound the album aims to unleash.
 
Among all the albums created by the Bristol group, "Heligoland" is the one with the most rock-oriented sounds. And this is its strength: if "Mezzanine" is the masterpiece of trip-hop and should be placed in this specific context, "Heligoland" is an album that will truly be liked by everyone.