Portishead - Machine Gun

Almost ten years since their brooding self-titled second album Bristol trio Portishead return with a new album, the accurately named Third.

Machine Gun is the first single released from it though don’t expect an upbeat enticement to the album, this is more of a muzzle in the guts. Sombre staccato beats effect a measured machine gun rattle, while Beth Gibson’s usually smoky tone is high-pitched and anguished. The Jeff Wayne-esque synth break towards the end emphasises the song’s dystopian nature. Machine Gun is the sound of a military-industrial society shot to hell told by an uncompromising and increasingly unlistenable band.