Portishead - Machine Gun
[Island]

Portishead are slowly but surely creeping past Radiohead for most talked about band of the year, thanks to a staggering ten year absence being broken by this month's 'Third' album.

Machine Gun, as far as comeback singles go, is a track that surpasses even the highest of expectations. The most simplistic of destructive military-driven beats continue to thump and pound away, demolishing even the sturdiest of structures in its path. Wrapped in white noise fuzz and snapping machine sounds, the ice-cold repetition is united with the equally clinical vocals of torn-soul Beth Gibbons.

The single puts rest to the age old argument that less really is more and so good a tune is Machine Gun, that the band could have taken 30 years to make a return and we'd still forgive them without a passing thought. It's good to be back.