Sticks very much to the trip hop blueprint of
Dummy whilst increasing the levels of paranoia. This makes for a much more uncomfortable but equally rewarding listening experience. The monochrome album cover fits the music perfectly.

Not a subtle as the predecessor, or nearly as haunting. But it still grabs me. Their beats swing, and the vocals still make me tingle. Well done, Portishead.

To be honest I found this a much better album than its predecessor, cuz it's much darker and deeper.

They increase the suspense and eeriness level of the debut while still sounding like the coolest james bond soundtrack ever made. "cowboys" sets the ominous tone slyly intoning at the chorus "But don't despair, This day will be their damnedest day". The dj work in this song and throughout is Tnotch -- this is goth noir IDM hop. There's a case of possession obsession on "all mine": "To hold you, Enfold you, Never enough, Render your heart to me. / All mine, You have to be". You can hear Beth's barren heart in her trembling voice on "undenied" as she sings "for so bare is my heart, I can't hide" wondering where her heart belongs amidst the laborious machina background that sounds wrapped in a dour kids music box. There's an uncertain foreboding within the echoing drums in "over": "To tread this fantasy, openly, / What have I done. / Oh, this uncertainty, / Is taking me over" The scratching rocks. "humming", literally humming/vibrating with backing synth-strings from the outset with a lovely vulnerable vocal performance from Beth singing "it's been so long, / That I can't confess", "mourning air" ("did i see a moment with you in a half-lit world? i'm frightened to believe.") crooning with faux-horns and "only you" are the remaining highlights. There's really no let up on this album