Third (2008)

Portishead return from a 10-year hiatus eager to stretch beyond the blunted ''trip-hop'' genre that the U.K. trio helped pioneer in the '90s. A few tracks on Third move at faster tempos (''Silence,'' ''We Carry On''), smoky jazz samples are complemented by metallic synth riffs, and turntable scratching has been omitted entirely. As a result, Beth Gibbons' spectral vocals linger atop eerie, warped pulses of music to create a swirl of melancholia. Third is indeed a less immediately accessible effort than Portishead's more groove-oriented earlier work, but it's no less gorgeous. B+
DOWNLOAD THIS: Hear ''We Carry On'' and the rest of Portishead's Third at www.last.fm starting April 21

You Might Also Like

• Music News MALAISED AND CONFUSED | Mike Flaherty
• Music News CLASS TRIP-HOP | Rob Brunner