Looking for Identities: Massive Attack

A STATELY HARPSICHORD looms up out of a gently tapping drumbeat. A piano escorts an exquisite female voice through a bass guitar archway with the courtly formality of a father giving away a bride in a BBC costume drama. Of all the lovely records to be released under Massive Attack's name, their 1998 single 'Teardrop' is, well, at least one of the loveliest. Hearing it for the first time is like holding a fine piece of filigree glasswork on the tip of your tongue and then recklessly biting into it, only to find out that it is actually made of sugar.