Picture the scene, it was the summer of 1994, and those kids who were into alt-rock (perhaps you were one of them), were getting their nails dirty and climbing trees to the sounds of Green Day and Nine Inch Nails. Then suddenly in the distance, a fog starts to roll in. It’s debut album Dummy from U.K. supergroup Portishead. Things will never be the same from then.
The album sampled a spy soundtrack, and sounded like the soundtrack to a spy film in of itself, it was drenched in the hip-hop techniques of scratching and sampling, and Beth Gibbons sounded quite simply like no one else, as she poured out her voice like honey over sweetly mysterious tunes.
Dummy went on to win a Mercury Music Prize, inspire an entire generation of young musicians, and become associated with a brand new genre called trip-hop. We were never the same since then, our murky unwashed rock hands become clean and pristine. Suddenly everyone was wearing black turtlenecks, smoking cigarettes on the streets and wondering who was secretly a spy amongst us.
Now that Dummy turns 25 this week, we’ve selected five of our favourite tracks to celebrate.
1. ‘Glory Box’
Look, ‘Glory Box’ had to be on the list. In fact, it’s illegal in 53 states across the world to exclude ‘Glory Box’ from such lists. The song is peak Portishead, and peak Dummy, and is probably the greatest song they’ve ever made. It’s quite literally legendary.
2. ‘Numb’
Numb rolls in with crashes and bangs, but as the song continues on, you start to feel like a Cold War interrogator. It may sound like an odd way to describe the song but, listen to it, it’s quite accurate.
3. ‘Sour Times’
“Nobodyyyyy loves meeeeeee, it’s trueeeee, not like you doooooo.”
4. ‘It Could Be Sweet’
This song is simply delightful, and bounces around like something Björk would dream up. Ethereal, smooth and otherworldy, all three reasons we love Dummy so much, captured in one track.
5. ‘Strangers’
Portishead’s oddest track on the album. This song is bold, loud, and full of fire, and for its time was probably the weirdest thing anyone had heard hit the mainstream.
