Portishead back after eight years

Cult British group Portishead have revealed they are writing their third album, their first in eight years.
Founding member Geoff Barrow told BBC 6 Music the record was well on the way to being completed.

"We're actually into it as we speak. We took some time off for Christmas, but generally we're doing another record," Barrow told the digital radio station.

News of their album plans comes after confirmation the Bristol band will play a tsunami charity show next month.

Portishead will play alongside fellow Bristol band Massive Attack at Oxfam's Tsumani appeal, held at the Bristol Academy on 19 February.

Barrow said he was surprised people thought the band, who won a Mercury Music Prize in 1995 for their debut album Dummy, had split up.

Influential group

"We've just had our heads down really, we've never actually broken up, or parted, or whatever.

"So for us it just seems, even though we haven't played for years, we still see each other and write - we just haven't released a record for a long time."

Portishead will not play any new material at next month's concert, which will feature singer Beth Gibbons playing with an acoustic backing.

Other acts appearing include Liverpool band The Coral and former Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant.

Portishead became an international success and a deeply influential band despite their scant recorded output.

Dummy was a critics' favourite in 1994, hailed for its blend of menacing sounds and hip-hop beats married to old soul samples.

The follow up, Portishead, was released three years later.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/...185511.stm

this is exciting its been soooo long.

It was really smart to market them as an electronic act, when actually they're a kick-ass band!

I'll get excited for this when I see it. They've talked about it for so long, and all we've gotten in between this album and Portishead was a live set. It was a good one, but I want something new...now! lol

I wish i was in Bristol or even on the same continent on Feb 19th

Great news Bout' time.

I didn't know it's been that long. I just discovered them about three or four years ago. Great to hear that new music will be coming.

oh thank god! this is one of the most anticipated albums
ever for me personally.

after all those years I still haven't grown tired of their
other albums. I love them almost religiously.

let's just hope this 'new album' is not gonna be another 2
or 3 years stuck in the pipeline.

There are some songs of theirs I totally totally dig but I have never really been a big fan of this chick's voice.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

are you kidding? her voice is phantasmagorical. I especially like the way
she sounds on the "portishead" album.

her voice conjures up images of Minni Mouse, half eaten away by a fierce
cocain addiction, shooting up in a dark loft with her lover still strapped
to the bed, nippleclamps and all, eyeing her .45 on the table and plotting
to rob the local pharmacy.

"I'm so tired....of playing...playing with this bow and arrow...."

I love it!!

IstenSzek said:

YES!!!

All throughout college, all I heard was other people's music. Other people's music blasted from every car and every dorm room. Only twice did I ever think it was cool enough to ask what it was. Both times, two years apart, it was Portishead!

Plus, uh, whan IstenSzek said. I think. Except for the part about nippleclamps.

IstenSzek said:

Yeah, Like on "Cowboys". That's my favorite song from that one.

VinaBlue said:

Oh you lie! .....

I missed those "trip-hop" heads!

Eight years is a long time outta the game though. I've heard a couple of Andy Smith mix tapes during the gap..... he's still cool and eclectic as ever

Thanks for the heads up on that!

ella731 said:

Just make sure you have a phrase-book on hand - They talk funny down in those parts

I hope this album sounds more like their second one rather than Dummy. This is news I've been wanting to hear for the longest.

RocknRollDave said:

Ill just take you!!

ella731 said:

Sorry, I can't help you there, I can't understand a bloody word they say there...


..but still, if you're buying the Newcastles, I'm up for it!

AnckSuNamun said:

I sure hope they have incorporated hwatever they have been doing the last 8 years into their music instead of stupidly recording another version of their second album, like Massive Attack has done with their latest outing.

I hope their new album is something of a step away from what they have been doing.

Has anyone heard the album Beth Gibbons made with Rustin' Man?
[Edited 1/20/05 6:19am]

HamsterHuey said:

No I havent yet any good?

I have Andy Smiths Document though and its great

this could be quite exciting- if they actually do it.

I too hope they push into some new areas. For as much as I like their CDs- that sound became quite dated. If they just offer up a retread of that, it will be quite a disappointment.

VinaBlue said:

is he serious? someone should tell him when a group doesn't make music for 8 years people have a tendency to think they have broken up.

this is great news though! i hope it actually comes to fruition. thanks for the news, vina.

SassyBritches said:

I saw this and thought "There are lots of Portishead fans on the org... I better start a thread."

purplegypsy said:

I heard that for the first time in the movie The Craft, and I was sooooo disapointed the song wasn't on the soundtrack. Then later I heard it in a store and I was like "Who is that"? Aaaaawww yeah... Glory Box RULES!!!

IstenSzek said:

its comments like this that have me thinking i've got an org crush on you!

VinaBlue said:

And wasn't it a remix of Glory Box in that movie? I wanna say it was actually from the Glory Times EP. I'm embarassed to admit how much I like that movie, so I've seen it quite a bit.

RipHer2Shreds said:

I dunno. You can hear very little of it in the movie. That movie is great, except for the hollywood ending. I have it on dvd.