CD reviews: Massive Attack | Gil Scott-Heron | Angie Stone | HIM

Published on Friday 12 February 2010 14:29

Massive Attack - Heligoland

The Bristol trip-hop duo are back after a seven-year break, and Daddy G and 3D have the tunes to prove it. Heligoland explores a vast sonic and lyrical terrain, from the marching drum beats and shamanistic vocals of opening track Pray For Rain, to the warped beats and eerie guest vocals from Elbow's Guy Garvey on Flat Of The Blade. Other contributors - and there are many - include Blur's Damon Albarn, who sings on Saturday Come Slow, and Massive Attack's old-timer Martina Topley Bird. While there is no track as outstandingly beautiful as past offerings Unfinished Sympathy or Protection, there is enough here to keep fans going for perhaps another seven years.

Gil Scott-Heron - I'm New Here

Having followed the 'proper procedure' dictated on the album sleeve by Scott-Heron - how to listen to his latest album in 13 years - it's easy to conclude the procedure is not worth repeating in its entirety, as it's so depressing. Though true to his talents as a poet and master of spoken word soul, I'm New Here mostly comprises introspective interludes, interspersed between some memorable, conventionally structured tracks. The tone is bleak and unemotional from the outset. In the opening track, On Coming From A Broken Home (Part 1), he lyricises about his upbringing in Jackson, Tennessee, bringing to mind Johnny Cash for his affinity with Jackson. Me And The Devil is the album's saving grace. Sounding more like Scott-Heron guesting on a Massive Attack or UNKLE tune, it's a soulful yet moody and glitchy studio-production. The mood doesn't lift until track 10, New York Is Killing Me, which appears to feature the playful hand claps of a child's game.

Angie Stone - Unexpected

What's unexpected is just how sickly sweet Angie Stone can be. Her girly neo-soul and contemporary R&B leanings are out and proud on this, her fifth studio album. It's full of mushy lyrics with dainty Mariah Carey-style melodies, and lacking in the catchy hooks found in her soulful dance hits Wish I Didn't Miss You and I Wasn't Kidding. While the album opens with Unexpected, which samples Sly And The Family Stone's Family Affair and is a clever production with a confident groove, the remainder of the album is eleven unimaginative, dated and predictable tracks. Free, a duet with Ricco Barrino, sounding not unlike Timbaland's Apologize ft One Republic, with its heavily synthesised sound, provides little respite from the schmaltz. Rather than reflect any kind of diversity in Stones' repertoire or injecting any youth into the production, these tracks seem to be desperate attempts at more commercial success which she has rarely seen.

HIM - Screamworks: Love In Theory And Practice

They may have required the services of producer Matt Squire, who's known for his work with Panic At The Disco and Taking Back Sunday, but the seventh album from Finland's leading metal band HIM doesn't have a hint of emo about it. Instead, it takes influence from goth-rock and, of course, metal. That said, there is something about this album which makes it far more accessible than their previous releases. Perhaps it's the steady hooks on display in tunes such as In Venere Veritas and Ode To Solitude, or the sing-a-long choruses present on the majority of the 13 songs. It's a good album which will appeal to those new to the band as well as existing fans.