The very first Portishead song to appear at any point during this long, long process. I know, I know. You might be surprised. Or maybe not, I don’t want to assume. I’d had Dummy in my iTunes library since, I think, at least 2014. That year was one where music journalism websites were publishing articles about “albums turning 20”. Dummy, being released in 1994, came under that category. And just by reading around I knew it was meant to be a good one. So I downloaded it. But it sort of just laid to rest in my old laptop’s drive. It wasn’t until 2018 when I was doing my own listen through artist’s discographies on Spotify “challenge” at work that I properly revisited the album and came to truly appreciate it and get an overall sense of why the trip-hop pioneers were so well-respected. Simply put, the music is very, very good. And they’ve only had to make three albums to show this.

Dummy is the trio’s debut album. Where it all began. Critics at the time bowed down to it, the style of music presented had never been exhibited so exquisitely before. I must admit, it has been a while since I’ve listened through it. But writing this makes me want to. I have my favourite numbers on there. ‘Strangers’, the album’s third song, is one of ’em. My enjoyment for it immediately begins with the thumping groove and vibrating bass line. With some good speakers, the walls will start shaking. For the opening verse, the song switches to a floatier atmosphere – a slick guitar delivers these jazzy chords as Beth Gibbons, sounding like a ghostly presence, asks whether we can see the light where the morn meets the dew and if they can, whether they realize that no one else can experience it the same way as you do. After three trailing beeps, the banging groove kicks in again and Gibbons fully takes control. I’m deeply into this rhythm, and the few pauses and moments of rest that occur in the track make it all the more emphatic when the bass line kicks into gear straight after them.

I’ve sort of said all I needed to, I think. I’ve already stated what’s literally sung in the song, at least in the opening and closing verses, which I believe provide the overlying meaning of the whole track. That being we all may be able to see a beautiful sight, one like no other, one like we’ve never seen before, but each of us have a distinct experience of that view. Someone might appreciate it. Another might not. Whatever your own experience of it is, it’s yours and yours alone. Of course, it might not even be that literal either. That’s just what I get from it. I’m a fan of the rhythm and production, as I’ve said, but I thoroughly enjoy Beth Gibbon’s vocal too, honest and vulnerable with a lot of feeling. There’s a jazzy feel I get when she sings “Done it warning, done it now, and it ain’t real” hook. The melody sounds like a trumpet passage in some old recording. That’s a little aside on my part. Overall, probably one of the coolest tracks I have the pleasure of knowing.