It's hard to catch lightning in a bottle and so I don't expect this to be the same band that released the stellar 'Dummy' album, fourteen years prior to this. However, 'Third' is an album entirely unexpected. Expectedly, Third is cautious to retain the band's original sound, but also intent to show their evolution over elapsed time. Something most bands struggle with. Third is able to effortlessly integrate real instrumentation with the drum machines and sampled bits they're famous for. And the arrangements on Third have become more diverse, complex and sharper than anything on Dummy. Beth Gibbons' voice has become less the haunting echos and more overt Stockholm Syndrome while retaining a feeling of soft-immediacy. Third's expanse of darker themes has grown wider, weirder and unapologetic. Some of these tracks play most of the way through like beautiful performance art pieces only to be awkwardly interrupted without notice, just like you'd expect performance art to be. The album plays closer to a Blonde Redhead album of the same era than a Basement Jaxx or UNKLE album of yesteryear. Third is an album that defies category and shows Portishead is not afraid to change on their own terms and challenge the idea of confined maturity. Though awkward at times and seemingly disjointed on the surface, Third is worth exploring deeper and is an excellent evolution for the band that may overshadow their original release, Dummy.