The fact that Massive Attack spawned a whole new genre in dance music is a serious detraction from the beauty of their music in the early nineties. The numerous chill-out compilations that overcrowd the supermarket shelves fail to pay testament to the innovations that Massive Attack contributed to the music scene.
New single Live With Me, which features soulful folk singer Terry Callier on vocals, is not only a welcome return for the band but a hark back to their glory days circa Blue Lines and Protection; it is an aching, haunting love song - but not one that you'll ever find on any BMG valentine's compilation, thankfully - that beautifully evokes the pain and longing of failed romance.
A typically melodramatic orchestral backing is accompanied by those familiar dusky beats, but it's Callier's gloriously emotive vocal that lifts this track far above and beyond average. He succeeds in being both fragile and powerful in a way that previous Massive Attack vocalists Shara Nelson and Tracey Thorn also achieved.
The most disappointing thing about this single is that it is not taken from a new album but will instead feature on a greatest hits compilation. However, if it is indicative of what is to come in 2007, then it should be worth the wait. In the meantime revisit their seminal debut Blue Lines - a record truly deserving of classic status.
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