Living in the Flood

Recorded at Kingston\'s Tuff Gong Studios and released on Massive Attack’s own Melankolic label, *Living in the Flood* expands on the dark \'70s reggae that brought Andy to Massive Attack’s attention in the first place. He enlisted venerable producer Clive Hunt to organize the musicians, and amazingly, *Living in the Flood* achieves a heavy, organic feel without resorting to mimicking the singer’s vintage recordings. The songs show occasional flourishes of drum programming, but it’s subtly done and provides a militancy to “Johnny Too Bad” and “Living in the Flood,” like a clapboard house reinforced with titanium steel. Andy’s quavering voice fits effortlessly into these songs. At a certain point in their career, older performers often become separated from their backing bands, and “comeback” albums sometimes superimpose a voice on a musical track as if it were a backdrop. Such isn\'t the case here. Andy does simply lead in “Seven Seals” and “Smiling Face,” but he curls through the songs\' cracks like smoke around the corners of a staircase.

Alright, no fooling around. Anyone whose primary references to the word "skank"\n\ have something to do with really trashy ...