my new obsession..

"Chase the Tear"
Portishead
"Chase the Tear"
[Amnesty International]
8



It was one of many spices flavoring the goodies available on their don't-call-it-a-comeback album Third, and it was the primary ingredient behind the music on Beak>, so the krautrock vibes on "Chase the Tear" shouldn't come as a surprise. The shockingly simple beat Geoff Barrow bangs out (as you can see in this fantastic video), coupled with the bubbling electronics seething behind it, finds Portishead effortlessly cruising down this particularly overcast stretch of the Autobahn. It's a fitting backdrop for Beth Gibbons' alluring croon and fractured lyrical impressionism ("Winter sigh/ Summer's gone/ Holding off tomorrow's sorrow")-- if her turn here makes you think of Fever Ray, you're not alone. Of course, on a track that acts like the sort of pop tune a bizarro Stereolab would've pressed to wax, what little guitar there is would sound like the tortured song of a melted music box. And, of course, befitting both a mysterious and mercurial outfit like Portishead and the sudden way in which this marvelous track sprung up on the web, "Chase the Tear" simply stops, leaving listeners waiting for whatever's next.