song of the day: march 10/2011

Massive Attack - Teardrop

Album: Mezzanine [1998]

a sublime and simple song built around a stuttering drum beat and harpsichord riff, this classic song introduces us to elizabeth fraser (of the cocteau twins) and her soothing, impossibly high vocals. massive attack had wanted to work with fraser since the early '90s, and, after years of wrong-time, wrong-place scenarios, they finally had their chance on 1998's "mezzanine". the sweetness of "teardrop", in addition to all of its dreamy melancholy, is completely undeniable. the single, released in may 1998, gave massive attack their first-ever top ten hit in the U.K. fully showcasing fraser's patent scale-slipping vocals, the song is almost (but not quite) epic in proportion, clocking in at an unrushed five and a half minutes. the music isn't much more than an accompaniment to the vocals, staying well behind the action only to scuttle forward ever so slightly from time to time. a song to soften the soul.

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