Finally, the last post in spite week. Today, I’m going to talk about one of my favourite albums, Heligoland by Massive Attack.

You might know Massive Attack from one of their better known songs, Teardrop. My most vivid memory of that song is September 11th, 2001. Much Music, the major Canadian music channel, scrapped everything that was planned for that day and instead played all the calming music they had. I was nowhere near the twin towers that day, I had no loved ones in danger, and I’m not going to pretend I was anywhere remotely near as badly affected as others, but it meant something to me that in the midst of that horror people were using everything they had to make things better, even if all they had was some music videos.

To this day, Massive Attack is where I go when I need a fucking break. When I’m angry and I’m in a headspace where I can use that as fuel, I listen to things like Nine Inch Nails, or Drowning Pool or Dope. When I’m exhausted and I’m sick of wanting to set things on fire, I go to Heligoland.

Specifically, I listen to Paradise Circus. If you feel terrible and you need a break from feeling terrible, try that song. Try the whole album. To me the rest of it isn’t quite as amazing as Paradise Circus, but it’s still pretty fucking good. I can’t explain what it is about that song and that album that’s so good, you just have to listen to it.