An attack on the ears

Trip-hop pioneers Massive Attack’s newest effort, “Heligoland,” marks their first studio album in seven years. While “Heligoland” isn’t the duo’s most revolutionary effort, it is also not a disappointment.

The first track is one of the best. “Pray For Rain,” featuring Tunde Adibempe from TV On The Radio, progresses slowly, bordering on silence when the dark piano and speed drums of the foreground relent. Adibempe moves the song before he rewards us with a rocking falsetto pinnacle.

“Heligoland” is a little bit of a detour; for a genre that is all about layers, the album shows that more is not always better. Much of it is stripped down, relying on vocal homogenization with the barren electronica that sometimes bleeds into monotony.

Manipulation through peaks and valleys is also oddly absent for the most part. The beats and the integration sometimes stay too flat in favor of movement.

This just emphasizes what could be called the biggest problem with “Heligoland”: Too many of the tracks are more forgettable than they are poor.