It would be easy, and certainly lazy, for me to open this with the usual spiel about how long it's been since Portishead's previous album (11 years) and how the music world has changed since their perverted trip-hop became a household name. I really can't be bothered though. I think it's superfluous to think in those terms. They're back, they're releasing a new album and the world has changed almost beyond recognition since their self-titled sophomore effort. Geoff Barrow has been quick to say that the next Portishead album won't be so long in the making, mainly because they "now have something to say". And, given the content of Third, they certainly do have something to say.There's a prevailing air of darkness and sinister forces throughout the record. Gone are the trip-hop and scratch orientated music of the previous albums, there seems to be something even more cinematic about the music. Take the opener 'Silence' which starts with a excerpt from a foreign language film, before a repetitive drum beat arcs in and a sinister guitar riff weaves around a set of percolating strings. Then Beth Gibbons voice kicks in and you're left reeling from this aching combination. It's then that you realise this isn't really a comeback because Portishead have never really been away. Their influence seems to have been incorporated into so many facets of music now that you take them for granted. One thing that hasn't been mimicked though is Gibbons spine-tinging vocals that always bow and break under a whole range of emotional turmoil.'Hunter' could easily be a twisted sister to 'Glory Box' with it's 60's film noir feel, occasionally interrupted with little pieces of electronica that seem to drip like raindrops down the window of sound. 'The Rip', meanwhile, is just gorgeous. It sprawls ahead of the listener like waves and waves of music breaking upon a shore of silence. The simple acoustic guitar the perfect compliment to Gibbons piercing voice. The skittish drums and keyboards just whisk it away in a completely different direction. Distorting the initial pure sound into something much more complex and alien sounding.The lyrics also add to this general air of darkness and foreboding. Both Gibbons and Barrow have been quite vocal about their opposition to the War in Iraq and UK politics in general at the moment, and this is definitely mirrored in the songs. The epic 'We Carry On' seems to distill this. It's Add N To X aping sinister electronica thuds along with Gibbons voice ethereal like, floating over this desolate waste land. Gibbons whispering "The taste of life, I can't describe / it's choking up my mind", the repeated line "Oh can't you see / Hold on to my heart I plead / No place is safe /can't you see the taste of life?" echoes as a harsh and metallic guitar riff slashes across it.As you can probably tell, it's not the easiest listen and Third takes more than a cursory number of plays before it weaves its magic and works its way into your skull. It's certainly not as straightly accessible as their two previous efforts but, after seeing the acts they called on for their ATP festival last year, should that really be a surprise? For those of you who have heard the piercing 'Machine Gun', the lead single, then you know what you're in store for. It's chilling and shattering noise the perfect call and response for a band who have been sorely missed over the past decade. As with most things, you don't know what you're missing until its no longer there. 90%See Portishead perform 7 songs live here.Links Portishead [official site] [myspace]