To say I was excited about this EP would be a huge understatement, 6 years waiting to hear new material from a band is too long; especially when the group is as good as Massive Attack. The Trip Hop outfit have been around for a while, pioneering the 90’s Bristol scene since the release of their first album in 1991, their dramatically atmospheric dynamics are always intriguing, often failing to feature a chorus and preferring lavish orchestral arrangements.

The EP starts off with the track ‘Dead Editors’ and features the fantastic Hip Hop artist Roots Manuva. The sinister baseline and percussion is like a drug, incredibly addictive and hugely complimentary of Manuva’s dark lyrics. Massive Attack then move on to a song that is more to their classic sound, it features Azekel and carries on the slow tempo of the EP. In 2010 Grant Marshall rejoined the group and vowed to “bring back the black to Massive Attack” which he evidently has in this album as it sounds like one long, infectious tribal dance.

One of my favourite features on the album is Young Fathers, an electro pop group from Scotland who, in the past 3 years, have toured relentlessly, released 2 albums and won a Mercury: not bad if you ask me. The cut they feature on is called ‘Voodoo In My Blood’ and it sounds as if Young Fathers had a say on the instrumentation too; it’s fair to say that the mix of the two artists couldn’t have worked any better. The album ends in style with Tricky  being the last to have vocals on the record. The lyrics are undeniably devilish and it’s a real throw back to the days of ‘Blue Lines’ when Tricky was still in the band.

This is an EP you must check out, it’s easily the best record to drop so far this year.

Rating: 9/10 (Would have been 10/10 but it wasn’t long enough)

If you like this then you’ll love this…