Portishead’s Dummy is a hauntingly lovely masterpiece that continues to captivate listeners with its moody magnificence and groundbreaking sound.
1994: a watershed yr for British music, no matter your tastes. Blur’s Parklife, the Manics’ The Holy Bible, The Prodigy’s Music For The Jilted Technology, to not point out a cracking debut single from Supergrass and, after all, Oasis’ Positively Perhaps. However none had been fairly so singular; so boldly authentic and notably out of step because the introductory providing from Portishead. Dummy, launched in August that yr, was as good because it was sudden – probably the most influential British debut data of its period.
And simply as Britpop was in full swing, sending acoustic guitar gross sales via the roof with supercharged lad-rock anthems tailor-made for the terraces, a sleeper-hit revolution was below approach in Bristol. It started as a low rumble of bass – one you would really feel rattling in your bones lengthy earlier than your ears might even hear it; the nice and cozy crackling and popping of vinyl static; gradual, hypnotic grooves and ethereal vocals. Pitched fairly intentionally on the reverse finish of the spectrum, Portishead’s Dummy was every part that Positively Perhaps or Parklife wasn’t: delicate, slow-burning, elusive, delicate, haunting.
However feast music this ain’t. In case your host ought to slip Dummy onto the turntable earlier than serving up the hors d’oeuvres, it could be smart to politely make your excuses. Beautiful style in music apart, there’s a great probability the canapés have been laced with cyanide. Removed from the ‘sit back’ tag too typically lazily utilized to this group, ‘chilling’ can be extra applicable. Portishead’s debut is at instances awkward, intense, demanding, anxious and sinister. For all its lighter moments (It May Be Candy), it will get fairly heavy, too (that groove in Strangers).
Musical Melting Pot
The Bristol Sound* developed out of town’s sound techniques, melding influences from US hip-hop with a distinctly Bristolian sensibility, knowledgeable by town’s wealthy (albeit troubled) multicultural heritage, and affect of dub from incoming Afro-Caribbean communities. (*Don’t name it ‘trip-hop’, until you want to invoke the wrath of its originators.)
The inventive conflict of cultures nonetheless fuelled a subversive inventive outlook that fed into the music. One such collective, The Wild Bunch, spawned scene icons Large Assault and their occasional affiliate Tough, in addition to Grammy award-winning producer, Nellee Hooper, whereas the identical scene birthed the famously elusive road artist, Banksy.
The Bristol set jettisoned the alpha male braggadocio usually related to hip-hop, electing as a substitute for hushed vocals, a meditative, soulful sensuality, and – a complete taboo in hip-hop on the time – occasional gender-fluidity. The tempo is positively sedate but unrelenting, like a freight practice regularly constructing momentum. Opposite to Madchester’s rave tradition, that was all about developing, Bristol soundtracked the comedown, representing the inner moderately than exterior. “Dance music for the top moderately than the ft”, to cite Large Assault’s Daddy G in The Observer.
Sculpting New Sounds
Whereas Portishead weren’t born immediately out of that scene, they had been shut sufficient to soak up a few of its attributes. A teenage Geoff Barrow was the assistant at Bristol’s Coach Home studio, that means he learnt his commerce on Large Assault’s seminal file, 1991’s Blue Traces, the style’s holotype.
Mobilised by the novel strategies they deployed, Barrow picked up a factor or two from Large Assault – particularly, an Akai sampler and an Atari pc, with which he started to sculpt new beats and sounds of his personal.
These formative explorations on the borrowed gear – initially flying solo – had been the genesis of what would evolve into Portishead.
On the face of it, the Portishead trio made an unlikely ensemble, every born in a distinct decade: Adrian Utley within the 50s, Beth Gibbons within the 60s and Geoff Barrow within the 70s. But every introduced a definite ingredient that was integral to their sound.
Barrow was the group’s driving pressure, closely impressed by hip-hop, fascinated by its strategies of sampling, looping and turntable scratching. Barrow’s writing and manufacturing credit score (Somedays) on Neneh Cherry’s 1992 album, Homebrew offered a primary skilled launch; his dusty, minimalistic beats are very audibly the precursor to the Portishead sound.
Retro Noir
Whereas attending an enterprise course for the unemployed, Barrow met would-be singer, Beth Gibbons – an unimaginable uncooked expertise with a voice like reduce glass. In an alternate universe, Gibbons may need turn out to be the official frontwoman of Speak Speak offshoot, .O.rang (Beth seems on their 1994 debut album, Herd Of Intuition). In the end, the burgeoning success of Portishead took her on a distinct path.
Naturally shy, the younger Beth is invariably seen stooping over the microphone, as a cigarette slowly burns down between her fingers. She giggles her approach nervously via interviews, so unaccustomed is she to the limelight. However when she sings, she’s a pressure of nature. Her physique turns into a portal that transports the listener again to a different period, acquainted however tantalisingly out of attain. Her voice doesn’t belong in our time; maybe a misplaced wartime radio transmission someway making its approach out of the ether right into a crackly Tannoy speaker.
The ultimate piece of the puzzle to fit into place, Adrian Utley was carving out a residing as a jobbing musician for the likes of Jeff Beck, amongst others. The person with the golden guitar, Utley introduced the spy movie ingredient. Utley was drawn to movie composers comparable to John Barry, who scored a lot of the James Bond sequence, and Ennio Morricone, recognized for his spaghetti western soundtracks. Utley opened Barrow as much as these novel sounds – a defining ingredient in Portishead’s chemistry that clearly differentiates them from their comrades in Large Assault. Cue oodles of sweeping strings, jazzy interludes and twangy tremolo guitars, invoking a definite retro noir sensibility.
Mud & Distortion
Dummy achieves perfection via imperfection. Ambiance and atmosphere stay on the forefront all through; the house between the notes carrying a weightiness of its personal.
The trio went to excessive lengths to create these timeless smoky sounds. One such approach was bouncing right down to cassette; or transmitting Beth’s vocals to tape by way of a radio sign; or enjoying via a damaged amplifier – every time, taking a clear sign and pushing it via a degenerative format to create loss and distortion. In different.
This method even prolonged to sampling themselves: recording authentic drum grooves to vinyl, which might then be manipulated. Utley introduced in fellow jazz session participant, Clive Deamer – fairly presumably the one drummer to have been thrown out of a band (Hawkwind, no much less) for being “too skilled”. Deamer would play the beat, as requested, which they’d reduce to a grasp disc, earlier than scuffing it up and carrying it out (till it resembled a discount bin file picked up at a automobile boot sale), resampling, after which chopping it as much as their satisfaction.
Nice sampling is a genuinely missed artform – not simply the technical prowess, however the curatorial facet of choosing the correct decisions and incorporating them into one’s personal sound in a approach that provides one thing new. Utley’s traditional file assortment evidently influenced just a few key samples on Dummy. Whereas Bitter Instances and Glory Field clearly owe their essence to the supply materials, Portishead’s personal innovation takes them someplace excitingly new.
Elsewhere, the samples are deployed in a approach that skews them fully from recognition into one thing wholly authentic and otherworldly – the prime instance being the road from 50s crooner Johnnie Ray’s I’ll By no means Fall In Love Once more, gloriously subverted on Biscuit to resemble some summary sign phoned in from outer house.
Out On Their Personal
The phrase that frequently crops up when describing Portishead is ‘uncompromising’. As a unit, they’re anti-popstars in each sense, recognized for being elusive and discovering success on their very own phrases, and avoiding the same old business promotional actions. They’re very a lot a studio outfit by nature. Nonetheless, 1998’s Stay In Roseland NYC, recorded in help of their second, self-titled LP, is an absolute masterclass. That includes a full dwell band and orchestra, it’s an outstanding doc for a collective who, by their very own admission, as soon as stated they didn’t take pleasure in enjoying dwell. It’s additionally testomony to their growth from a sample-based origin to an natural instrumental group.
Launched in a yr of epic albums, Dummy nonetheless received the Mercury Prize, beating stellar debuts from Britpop boomers Oasis, Supergrass and Elastica, in addition to fellow Bristol alumni, Tough.
Peaking at No.2 on UK Albums Chart, Dummy was finally topped as file of the yr by each Melody Maker and The Wire and has since turn out to be a fixture on ‘better of’ lists. Certainly, what’s wonderful about Dummy is the way it transcends style. No matter tribe you belong to, one thing resonates inside.
Widespread Affect
Portishead’s legacy is most clearly measured, not in their very own close to good however restricted output, however moderately the large quantity of copycat materials that adopted. You hear Dummy’s affect rubbing off on a mess of artists who discovered business success in Portishead’s wake: Groove Armada, Morcheeba, Goldfrapp, Air, Cinematic Orchestra, Zero 7. Whereas not with out advantage, lots of them sanded off the tough edges that gave Portishead their character. Extra just lately, Lana Del Rey and Billie Eilish have taken cues from their retro-inspired streetwise melancholia. Beth Gibbons’ voice is far imitated, however by no means surpassed.
Their sound (if not their fashion) has clear echoes in Hazard Mouse’s Noughties manufacturing work, notably on Beck’s 2008 album Fashionable Guilt, which options sparse preparations of reverb-laden plucked guitars over crunchy beats, characterised by the identical analogue heat and classic sound.
Portishead’s aesthetic grew to become so recognisable, ubiquitous and emulated, that they consciously scrapped it fully, wiping the slate clear for the long-gestated Third album. If not for Beth’s voice, you’d by no means take into account it to be the identical band – which, presumably, is exactly what they wished. Gibbons just lately acquired one other Mercury nod for her 2024 solo LP, Lives Outgrown (Time’s album of 2024) – an earthier, folky delight within the vein of Siouxsie. Nothing like Portishead, however equally spellbinding. It’s a must to admire their steadfast refusal to tread the identical outdated floor. However for this author, Dummy stays their final calling card, but to be surpassed.
The Tracks
Mysterons
Woozy damaged chords ring out over turntable scratching, earlier than a quick, trippy beat falls in on a tautly wound snare, accompanied by a spooky theremin. Gibbons’ timeless voice enters the fray, lifting the observe from a breakbeat instrumental into one thing boldly authentic. So far as introductions go it’s fairly compelling; the consummate soundtrack to a misplaced silver display traditional: movie noir meets B-movie sci-fi.
The title, after all, references the puppet-based sci-fi present from the makers of Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons. Varied interpretations of the latter have been put ahead, such because it being a commentary on the Chilly Battle and/or the psychological ways deployed by terrorists. Regardless of the extraterrestrial sci-fi theme, might Portishead’s reference be a foreboding touch upon wanting not outwards, however inwards, at our personal darkish human nature? Or perhaps the title simply sounded nice.
Bitter Instances
Considered one of Portishead’s defining tracks and a masterclass in understated cool, Bitter Instances is constructed across the opening bars of Danube Incident from the unique Mission Unattainable sequence, recasting it as a sultry ballad. It boasts certainly one of Portishead’s trademark descending plucked basslines, twangy, excessive tremolo guitars, plus the rattling and chiming cimbalom. Gibbons coos gently: “No one loves me, it’s true/ Not such as you do”, over a shuffling beat. Upon preliminary UK launch, the one stalled at No.57, later reaching No.13 on re-release following the success of Glory Field. A smoky and timeless traditional.
Strangers
A Climate Report pattern collapses right into a gnarly, repetitive and dubby groove, akin to Large Assault. That’s earlier than a slinky guitar half and hints of mangled trumpet transport us to the jazz café. The abrasive low-end pulse is splendidly hypnotic, punky and dissonant, like an air raid siren, with Beth’s voice reducing like glass excessive.
A vastly authentic spotlight of the file, that really comes alive at their gigs. Certainly, much more satisfying than the music itself is testing response movies of the Roseland NYC efficiency from uninitiated listeners – watching their minds get blown (in a great way) via a mix of sheer pleasure and complete confusion is actually heartwarming.
It May Be Candy
The primary observe that Gibbons and Barrow ever labored on collectively, earlier than Utley joined them. Apparently, Beth already had an concept in progress, which Geoff then re-translated into his formative Portishead sound. He utilises a drum machine to create a proto lure groove – a easy backbeat at a chilled-out tempo, juxtaposed with fluttering syncopated fills.
As a primary ‘testing the water’ collab, it’s a formidable assertion of intent, although the depth they might go on to realize has not but totally developed. It’s notably one of many extra upbeat and uplifting tracks on the album; breezy and carefree, with out the foreboding sense of dread and anxiousness that hangs over a lot of the file. Although it’s comparatively light-weight in tone, that’s no unhealthy factor to counterbalance the shade elsewhere.
Wandering Star
Immediately extra foreboding than the earlier observe, Wandering Star is constructed upon a gradual pulsing emission like a damaged coronary heart monitor, that includes a manipulated pattern, towards a gradual saggy beat. There’s extra funky turntablism from Barrow and down-tuned guitar licks from Utley. With out Beth’s voice, it might cross for an instrumental from Californian rap collective, Jurassic 5’s debut.
All through the LP, Gibbons’ lyrics are sometimes summary and ambiguous – but, even whenever you’re not fully away from the that means, they invoke varied feelings, starting from isolation and loneliness to craving and seduction. Pattern lyrics on this case: “The masks that the monsters put on to feed upon their prey” and “the blackness of darkness without end”. The sinister monotony of the groove and vocal contrasts with the uplifting guitar and turntable gildings.
It’s A Fireplace
Opening like Large Assault’s Unfinished Sympathy with majestic sweeping strings, it then takes a distinct route with Beth’s vocal over organ chords, simply passing for an offcut from Air’s Moon Safari. Lacking from the tracklisting of some authentic releases of the album, it’s fantastic and a serviceable chill-out observe however feels a little bit like they’re coasting, missing the identical depth felt throughout Dummy. It’s direct, clear and upfront (no unhealthy factor in itself), however not cloaked in that cloying environment that provides the remainder of the file its visceral edge.
Pedestal
A grungy trippy beat, loaded with swagger, with a very jazzy vocal from Gibbons, and a muted trumpet solo that imbue an actual lounge really feel. Pedestal is notably sparse, moody and subdued. Some cool funky instrumental breaks and nifty scratching from Geoff Barrow elevate it from feeling too downbeat. A fantastic album observe, however they will’t all be dizzy peaks.
Biscuit
One other breakbeat jam, with extra funky turntablism and the impressed Johnnie Ray pattern that’s distorted, mangled and manipulated past recognition to create an eerily down-pitched, stretched out vocal chorus. Biscuit options one other attribute descending bassline, with tons extra Fender Rhodes piano giving a lounge vibe, over a stop-start beat. Its house age jazz feels quite a bit like The Cinematic Orchestra, who would observe of their wake. A cool downbeat stoner vibe.
Glory Field
Whether or not or not Portishead are in your radar, Glory Field is the music that everybody has heard someplace. An prompt stone-cold traditional and probably the most catchy and accessible observe on the file, it lands instantly, with its easy descending bassline, lush strings chorus and screaming guitar solo.
It’s constructed round a pattern from Ike’s Rap II by Isaac Hayes, additionally cheekily sampled on Tough’s Hell Is Spherical The Nook off Maxinquaye. (Although observe that Ike’s Rap is in itself a free interpolation of one other closely sampled earworm, Wallace Assortment’s Daydream.)
Its prettiness is subverted within the ultimate bars, with a briefly chaotic dissonance like A Day In The Life, earlier than resolving itself with calm. The band didn’t need to launch it on the grounds of it being “too business”, nevertheless it made UK No.13, and its reputation gave them a stable platform on which to construct.
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