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Rating: ABBIATEGRASSO (Mi)
28-12-2004 / 6:35 PM
"Interior. Dim light."
It's like being in Chicago in the '30s, with too much LSD in your system.
It's like being projected onto the needle of an old gramophone.
It's like a phantom orchestra starting to play.
It's like flying back in time with your mind but not with your hands.
A sound that tastes like sugar immediately radiates from the wooden speakers, enveloping the dark room with yellow glue in the corners. The cold outside and the blue winter form a backdrop, sticking as they do behind the window.
Suddenly, there's the fragile voice of Beth Gibbons sneaking intriguingly between the low cushions and the patterns of a drum as dry as ice. Adrian Utley's jazzy guitar does the rest. Few ingredients for a sharp and intense sound, which enchants with its grace and silences the air.
The tracks slide placidly like wood on water; a road unfurling with sinuous curves, the album creates a deep sense of fullness, of dry but satisfying linearity. Never out of tune, always enveloping. And it's the warmth that seduces us. Dense and intense like slow lava, it floods us from beginning to end, throughout all 13 tracks, with "Humming" serving as the keystone in all its beauty.
Too many words cannot be used, as one risks breaking the charm of the incandescent crystal. A historical work by the band from Bristol (Portishead is indeed the neighborhood from which the leader Geoff Barrow hails), laden with that sound that seems to flow spontaneously from there.
Fascinating in every part.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Cowboys (04:42)
Did you sweep us far from your feet
Reset in stone this stark belief
Salted eyes and a soiled dye
Too many years
But don't despair this day, will be their damnedest day
Ooh, if you take these things from me
Did you feed us tales of deceit
Conceal the tongues who need to speak
Subtle lies and a soiled queen
The truth is sold, the deal is done
But don't despair this day, will be their damnedest day
Ooh, if you take these things from me
Undefied, no signs of regret
Your swollen pride assumes respect
Talons fly as a last disguise
But no return, the time has come
So don't despair this day, will be their damnedest day
Ooh, if you take these things from me
Ooh, if you take these things from me
02 All Mine (04:02)
All the stars may shine bright
All the clouds may be white
But when you smile
Oh how I feel so good
That I can hardly wait
To hold you
Enfold you
Never enough
Render your heart to me
All mine
You have to be
From that cloud, number nine
Danger starts the sharp incline
And such sad regrets
Oh as those starry skies
As they swiftly fall
Make no mistake
You shan't escape
Tethered and tied
There's nowhere to hide from me
All mine
You have to be
So don't resist
We shall exist
Until the day
Until the day I die
All mine
You have to be
03 Undenied (04:24)
Your softly spoken words
Release my whole desire
Undenied, totally
And so bare is my heart
I can't hide
And so where does my heart
Belong
Beneath your tender touch
My sense can't divide
Oh so strong
My desire
For so bare is my heart
I can't hide
And so where does my heart
Belong
Now that i've found you
And seen behind those eyes
How can i
Carry on
For so bare is my heart
I can't hide
And so where does my heart
Belong
Belong, belong, belong
04 Half Day Closing (03:48)
In the days, the golden days
When everybody knew what they wanted
It ain't here today
Through the times of lasting love
when parents talked of things tried and tested
They don't feel the same
Dreams and belief have gone
Time, like a thief, goes on
From beyond the shrinking skies
Where money talks and leaves us hypnotized
It dont' pave the way
Underneath the fading sun
The silent sum of a businessman
Has left us choking
Dreams and belief have gone
Time, like a thief, goes on
In the days, the golden days
When everybody knew what they wanted
It ain't here today
Dreams and belief have gone
Time, like a thief, goes on
06 Humming (06:03)
Closer;
No hesitation.
Give me
All that you have.
And it's been so long,
That I can't explain.
And it's been so long;
Right now, so wrong.
Naked,
My thoughts are creepin.
Too late;
The show has begun.
Cause it's been so long,
That I can't confess;
And it's been so wrong,
Right now,
So wrong.
Is it all as it seems?
So unresolved; so unredeemed?
If I remain, how will I know?
Cause it's been so long that I can't be sure.
And it's been so wrong;
Right now, so wrong.
07 Mourning Air (04:15)
Did I see a moment with you
In a half lit world
I'm frightened to believe
But I must try
If I stumble if I fall
I'm reaching out in this mourning air, ohh
Have I got the strength to ask
Beyond the window
I feel this fear alone
Until we have
Total honesty
If I tremble or fall
I'm reaching out in this mourning air, ohh
Should I feel a moment with you
To softly whisper
I crave nothing else so much
Longing to reveal
Total honesty
I can feel your touch
I'm reaching out in this mourning air, ohh
I'm reaching out in this mourning air, ohh
08 Seven Months (04:18)
How can i forget you
Disregard how i feel
Silently listen
To the words i can't see
As long as i have tried
As low as i can be
I will never resign myself
From the trial i seek
Why should i forgive you
After all that i've seen
Quietly whisper
When my heart wants to scream
For as long as i have tried
And as low as i can be
I will never resign myself
From the trial i seek
There's no time to rest
Or to reconsider
For this cruel unsaid
Won't concede
10 Elysium (05:57)
No one has said what the truth should be
And no one decided that I'd feel this way
If you felt as I
Would you betray yourself
But you can't deny how I feel
And you can't decide for me
No one should fear what they cannot see
And no one's to blame; it's just hypocrisy
It's written in your eyes
And how I despise myself
But you can't deny how I feel
And you can't decide for me
And it's your heart
That's so wrong
Mistaken
You'll never know
Your feathered, sacred self
But you can't deny how I feel
And you can't decide for me
And you can't deny how I feel
And why should you decide for me
11 Western Eyes (03:59)
Forgotten throes at another's lie
The heart of love is their only light
Faithless greeds consolidating
Holding down sweet charity
With western eyes and serpent's breath
We lay our own conscience to rest
But I'm aching
At the view
Yes I'm breaking
At the scenes just like you
They have values of a certain taste
The innocent they can hardly wait
To crucify invalidating
Turning to dishonesty
With western eyes and serpent's breath
They lay their own conscience to rest
But then they lie and then they dare to be
Hidden heroes candidly
So I'm aching
At the view
Yes I'm breaking
At the scenes just like you
I feel so cold
On hookers and gin
This mess we're in
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By The_dull_flame
"It is a descent into the underworld, a dark place made of sounds and voices coming from other planets and full of points of no return."
"'Only You' is so moving and beautiful that it brings tears to your eyes."
