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Portishead's First Release In 6 Years Is A Cover Of ABBA's "SOS" And It's Hauntingly Good
Portishead's First Release In 6 Years Is A Cover Of ABBA's "SOS" And It's Hauntingly Good

Portishead's First Release In 7 Years Is A Cover Of ABBA's "SOS" And It's Hauntingly Good

Portishead's First Release In 6 Years Is A Cover Of ABBA's "SOS" And It's Hauntingly Good

“We have far more in common than that which divides us.”

Portishead fans haven't had much to work with over the last half-decade. Outside of a few festival appearances years back, the trip-hop pioneers have been ghost since the release of their 2008 studio album Third, with the exception of 2009's loosie, "Chase the Tear." Then a sign of life appeared last year at a Gala screening for the film High Rise, which featured an inexplicably great cover of one of 1975's cheesiest chart-toppers: ABBA's "SOS."

And though it may seem like a nightmarish pairing, this is actually a dream you won't want to wake up from. PH morphs the ballad-like pop hit into a stone-cold gem of minimalism. Pianos are replaced by rapturous synth beds and the brightness of ABBA's typically cheerful vocal arrangements get knocked into the next century by Beth Gibbons' howls and coos. A video for the track was released today as a tribute to the recently killed British Labour MP, Jo Cox, who was horrifically slain just last week. Watch the black and white treatment for Portishead's hauntingly good cover of "SOS" down below.