By David Hubbins
Issue 92 - March 2010

Massive Attack – Heligoland       

Plenty of people have waited a long time for this one. It’s been seven years since the release of 100th Window, the disappointing follow-up to Mezzanine. Sadly, more disappointment is in store. It’s not that Heligoland (a small German archipelago in the North Sea, by the way) is a bad record; it’s just that it breaks no new ground at all. How can it, with guest stars who first appeared on Massive Attack records over a decade ago – Damon Albarn, Horace Andy – or who aren’t distinctive enough to leave an impression? Best of the drop-ins is Tunde Adebimpe, lead singer of TV on the Radio, a band with its feet planted much more firmly in the 21st century than Bristol’s former pride and glory. Heligoland is less a massive attack than a weak parry.