I'm not sure if it's good or bad that I haven't really paid much attention to Portishead's third album release Third. There have been no shortage of teaser news articles, a few actively profiled live performances, a new track on a Serge Gainsbourg tribute compilation, and even the preview release of the song "Machine Gun" floating around, but short of passing on a few news tidbits, and listening to their Serge Gainsbourg tune, I haven't been following it. All that said, as I'm listening to Third, Portishead's album 10 years in the waiting I have a lot of freshly mixed emotions.

1. Silence
2. Hunter
3. Nylon Smile
4. The Rip
5. Plastic
6. We Carry On
7. Deep Water
8. Machine Gun
9. Small
10. Magic Doors
11. Threads

Throughout Europe there has been a growing fascination with modern folk sounds, and that fascination hasn't escaped Portishead. If I had to boil it all down to a few choice words, and in fact, I actually do have to do that, I'd say Third is a mixture of modern folk songwriting, with sparse, often "tribal-like" percussion, and minimalistic, vintage synth key sequences played alongside Beth Gibbons' trembling, noir vocal style, which simultaneously enfolds and estranges itself from the music.

There is a strong vein of experimentation felt through each of these songs that deliver success and failure in varying degrees. Third is the kind of album you might not immediately connect with, but you'll find that each successive exposure, brings you closer in. I don't think anyone can argue that there is a strong influence of the kind of sound that ruled the underground music world of the 80s going on here. Whether you hear similarities to the folk noir of Mazzy Star, the moody edginess of post-punk, the machined rhythms of early industrial music, or the avant-garde electronics and melody experimentation of so many female performers of the time, Portishead are clearly influenced by the decade of music its members grew up listening to.

As a first single from the album, "Machine Gun" is an off choice. It's percussion and stiff synth sequences are far heavier than any other song on the album, and played in a style that's more in the taste of Belgium's experimental industrialist Dirk Ivens (aka Dive) than Portishead. It has the most "bang", but certainly isn't a baseline for the rest of Third.

In my opinion the best songs on the album are its last two, "Magic Doors" and "Threads", and if I were choosing a debut single for this album, I have to say "Magic Doors" would likely be the one I'd pick. It carries a psychedelic feel with a wonderfully played, but subtle bass line while Gibbons' vocals fit the sound perfectly. If they dropped a sitar into the mix it wouldn't have been surprising. "Threads" sounds a bit like an outtake from their debut album with all but it's most basic percussion stripped out and again, Beth Gibbons voice stands with, as opposed to beside or above the music. Other songs like "The Rip" and "Hunter" present a completely new side of Portishead that I'm coming to enjoy as more and more beautiful with each new listen.

Third won't blow your mind, and it doesn't really even step in where either Dummy or Portishead left off. This is an evolution for Portishead that skips us all past the three or four albums they might have normally released over the past 10 years and drops us right into the space they would be in right now anyway. It may not amaze you, and at times you may find it forgettable, but in the end I'm certain of one thing: it won't disappoint you if you're open to something new that hints at a few familiar things.

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Also available as a limited edition box set (Double vinyl/1GB USB/single vinyl/ltd edition print).

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