"Risingson" is a song by the English

trip hop Trip hop is a musical genre that has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound. The style emerged as a more experimental music, experimental var ...

group

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol, England, by Robert Del Naja, Robert "3D" Del Naja, Daddy G, Grant "Daddy G" Marshall, Tricky (musician), Adrian "Tricky" Thaws and Andrew Vowles, Andrew "Mushroom" ...

, released as a single on 7 July 1997 by

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

. It is the first single from their third album, ''

Mezzanine A mezzanine (; or in Italian, a ''mezzanino'') is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft with non-sloped ...

'' (1998), and the eighth single overall.

Background and composition

The single contains a sample of " I Found a Reason", a song by

The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1964. Its classic lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and percussionis ...

Reception

Reception for the song was positive. John Bush of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

described the song as "a dense, dark feature for Massive Attack themselves (on production as well as vocals), with a kitchen sink's worth of dubby effects and reverb." Kevin Courtney from ''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' declared it "a dark, deep forest of a tune, with vocals by 3D and Daddy G, and extra mixes by

Underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...

Darren Emerson Darren Paul Emerson (born 30 April 1971) is an English musician, DJ and producer best known as a former member of the British electronic music group Underworld. Career Early life Emerson began mixing hip hop records at the age of 14, and by ...

." British magazine ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' rated it four out of five, adding, "Moody, dark atmospherics with prowling bass and gruff raps that suggests a darker approach for the

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

trio's third LP."

Music video

The accompanying music video for "Risingson" stars all the participating musicians in ''

'', excluding the guest singers. They are all in a house while a gimped man with a chainsaw is outside the house.

Robert del Naja Robert Del Naja (; born 21 January 1965), also known as 3D, is a British artist, musician, singer and songwriter. He emerged as a graffiti artist and member of the Bristol collective The Wild Bunch (sound system), the Wild Bunch, and later as ...

walks to a window to investigate the man, who is on the other side of the window, but he soon disappears as Del Naja spots him. Del Naja walks and leaves to head upstairs, until he notices the man again and decides to jump down the stairs. He tries to find the man's approximate location outside, but he is already sawing the back door down, near where

Mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom. The standard for the n ...

is located. He walks inside and follows Mushroom.

Daddy G Grantley Evan Marshall (born 18 December 1959), also known by the stage name Daddy G, is a British DJ and a founding member of the band Massive Attack. Biography Born in Bristol to West Indian parents, Marshall joined the Bristol music scen ...

then walks to the front door and leaves the house, while Del Naja is in another room and spots another person outside climbing the walls. He sits down when there is an explosion behind him. Along with all the other music videos released with ''Mezzanine'', the video was directed by Walter Stern.

Personnel

Massive Attack *

Robert Del Naja Robert Del Naja (; born 21 January 1965), also known as 3D, is a British artist, musician, singer and songwriter. He emerged as a graffiti artist and member of the Bristol collective The Wild Bunch (sound system), the Wild Bunch, and later as ...

– vocals, producer, arrangements, programming, keyboards, guitars, samples, art direction, design * Grantley Marshall – vocals, producer, arrangements, programming, keyboards, samples *

Andrew Vowles Andrew Lee Isaac Vowles, also known as Mushroom, is an English musician, known for being a founding member of the trip hop/abstract art collective Massive Attack, along with Robert Del Naja (3D), Adrian Thaws (Tricky) and Grantley Marshall (Da ...

– producer, arrangements, programming, keyboards, samples Additional personnel *

Neil Davidge Neil Davidge is an English record producer, songwriter, film score composer and musician. Once an associate of dance producers DNA, he is best known as the long-term co-writer and producer for trip hop collective Massive Attack. In 1997, he als ...

– producer, arrangements, programming, keyboards, samples *

Angelo Bruschini Angelo Bruschini (1960/1961 – 23 October 2023) was an English guitarist from Bristol who contributed to the region's trip hop explosion in the 1990s and 2000s. Career He was a member of The Numbers, Rimshots, The Blue Aeroplanes, and both t ...

– guitars * Jon Harris, Bob Locke, Winston Blisset – bass guitars * Andy Gangadeen – drums * Dave Jenkins, Michael Timothy – additional keyboards Recording personnel * Jan Kybert –

ProTools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...

* Lee Shepherd – engineer (Massive Attack and Christchurch Studios) *

Mark "Spike" Stent Mark "Spike" Stent (born 3 August 1965) is an English record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with many international artists including Madonna, Marshmello, U2, Beyoncé, Björk, Depeche Mode, Echo & the Bunnymen, Grimes, Ed Sheeran, ...

– mixing (Olympic Studios) * Jan Kybert, Paul "P-Dub" Walton – assistant mixing * Tim Young – editing, engineer (Metropolis Studios)

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1997 singles Virgin Records singles 1997 songs Massive Attack songs Songs written by Daddy G Songs written by Robert Del Naja Songs written by Andrew Vowles Music videos directed by Walter Stern