"Risingson" is a song by the English

trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with " downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic fusion of hip hop and electronica with slow temp ...

group

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol by Robert "3D" Del Naja, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. The debut Massive Attack album '' Blue Lines'' was rele ...

, released as a single on 7 July 1997. 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 was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacL ...

Reception

Reception for the song was positive. John Bush of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

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." 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 W ...

'' 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, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city i ...

trio's third LP."

Music video

The accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...

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, and later as a founding member and sole consi ...

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 fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...

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, and later as a founding member and sole consi ...

– 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 (born 29 June 1962) is an English record producer, songwriter, film score composer, musician, and occasional backing vocalist. Once an associate of dance producers DNA, he is best known as the long-term co-writer and producer for ...

– producer, arrangements, programming, keyboards, samples *

Angelo Bruschini Angelo Bruschini is a guitarist from Bristol who has been a member of The Numbers, Rimshots, The Blue Aeroplanes, and currently with Massive Attack. He produced Strangelove's eponymous album in 1997. He also played guitar for Jane Taylor's aw ...

, Adam Drake – 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-producti ...

* 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 Shee ...

– 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