heavenly action

Hello, my lovelies. I'm writing this blog entry from a cozy little corner at Starbucks in Maida Vale which is located in the bosom of northern London. There are many songs being written in various studios throughout the capital this week. The journey to and from each session has been accompanied by one song which makes it's debut at #2 on the UK singles chart today.

The gloriously anthemic "Heaven" from Emeli Sandé has crashed the consumer consciousness in Great Britain and filled the airwaves with gospel voices set to a funky drummer beat. Yes, we have firmly revisited the sound of the 90s, ladies and gents. And it appears Emeli's producers have listened to copious amounts of "Blue Lines", the genre defining, trip hop, debut from Bristol's finest, Massive Attack.

But first, let's have a look at the video which was just lensed for "Heaven".



The twenty year cycle of nostalgia is in full effect for the 90s. Gritty street scenes, ashen faces, wandering homeless men and lost children. For a visual and sonic comparison, let's check out "Unfinished Sympathy", the track that launched the Massive Attack phenomenon. Pay particular attention the the string lines.



Of course, the two songs don't sound the same, but Emeli definitely captured some of the vibe. Big things are tipped for her. We will keep a watchful on this rising diva.

atomic return of Massive Attack

After a lengthy, six year absence from the music scene, moody, UK, trip-hop icons, Massive Attack, are on their way back with "Splitting The Atom". It's a four song EP featuring several, highly promising, vocal cameos from Martina Topley Bird, Guy Garvey from Elbow, TV On The Radio vocalist Tunde Adebimpe, and long-time collaborator, Horace Andy.

The title track is a deep, creepy, haunting, slow burning number with shades of the more trippy end of the Two Tone spectrum or the spookier sides of Gorillaz.

In fact, when Massive Attack drop their forthcoming, fifth album in February, it will feature Blur/Gorillaz front man, Damon Albarn and former Mazzy Star chanteuse, Hope Sandoval.

Recently, I've rediscovered the dark beauty and claustrophobic fear of their groundbreaking debut, "Blue Lines".

And who could forget the bittersweet brilliance of their collaboration with Tracey Thorn from Everything But The Girl?