Massive Attack and Ghostpoet - Come Near Me

It’s hard to imagine two atmospheres better paired than those conjured by Ghostpoet and Massive Attack. Both paint effortless pictures in various gloomy shades, reflecting on the darker side of life with a whip-crack tautness. ‘Come Near Me’ is every bit as perfect in practise as it is on paper - three masters of tension in a heartstring tug of war.

With a sound not dissimilar to a dodgy phone line buzzing away in the background, Ghostpoet’s latest account of communication breakdown takes on a third dimension. “Don’t stand by the door / come near me,” he half-demands over crackling percussion, sounding more world-weary than ever. It’s an all-too-common tale of woe, given a menacing new slant - a cloudy-headed, industrial take on emotional exhaustion, it captures all elements of its meticulous construction at their peak.