Yahoo! Music Review

Released on 21/04/08
Label: XL

Call the cops! Someone's broken into Robert del Naja's Bristol mansion and stolen the drum beat from "Unfinished Sympathy". Disaster! How are Massive Attack going to play Meltdown now? Witnesses say that a teenage girl was seen hotfooting it from the scene of the crime, headed towards the B&Q in West Norwood. Police are asking for Duffy to come forward and help them with their enquiries.

So, yes, the drum beat is strangely familiar. However, compared to the tiresome dirge of "Chasing Pavements", this is a hop, skip and cartwheel in the right direction. It's lithe, wide-eyed, deeply strange, and the music is the equal of that big voice - in fact, Adele tones down her bellow a little as the feral strings and crisp percussion surge and crash like a breaking tsunami. Had this been released as a startling, "Crazy"-style debut single, we'd be proclaiming Adele as a major talent. As it is, glad to see the girl's finally got her act together.

    by Ian Watson