We Are Our Own Devil.

Only a few days ago, I'd been blessed by the dark notes of Mezzanine by Massive Attack flowing out of my iPod. It's an album I tend to listen to three or four times a year when that particular mood strikes -- the need to immerse oneself into music that's simultaneously cool, calculating, almost-sinister and absolutely seductive -- you know the feeling. Trip-hop exploded onto the scene at around the same time that I was searching for something new and awesome to fill my brain. Mezzanine poured like a slow, silvery liquid into my ears, and I was immediately taken by how dark and ... sexy it was. This was something I'd never heard before.

And I liked it. I've been a fan ever since.

So it really was a fortuitous coincidence that I received an email from Tristen Gacoscos of Filter asking me to check out Massive Attack's new single "Paradise Circus (feat. Hope Sandoval)" and hooked me up with a link to the video. To be honest, it was ... difficult to pay close attention to the actual music while watching the video for the first time. Hmmm yeah yeah yeah for obvious reasons (as you'll see below), but the spliced-in candid interview with Georgina Spelvin about her experiences in The Devil In Miss Jones made for good listening as well.

But yo. This joint just slithers and slides in a strangely retro kind of way, topped off lovely by Hope Sandoval's breathy vocals. I love the chimes and hand-claps, and the way the strings float in like ghosts near the end. This is something I can throw on at the end of a house party as I navigate chinky-eyed around empty bottles of Sapphire, semi-conscious Asian chicks and low-hanging kush clouds. In other words, hot shit.

I'm not going to embed the video here on PM 'cause it's basically porn (let me spell it out for you: EXTREMELY NSFW), but hey, look and listen for yourself.

"We are our own devil." Indeed, Miss Jones, indeed.

Massive Attack's new album, Heligoland, drops 09 February.