Paradise

That's not to say, however, that musically speaking, this is a bum trip: "The Fear" is a beautifully chill torch-song brushed with melancholy strings and Spanish guitar, while "I Feel You" simmers with the sort of dub-tinged electronic sounds that Massive Attack once made their own. Meanwhile, the helium-high vocal hook of "First Love" - Rob's vocal pitched to +8 - suggests even the first men of British hip-hop can pick up tricks from new-school heads like Kanye. That we can say that twenty years on from the Stereo MC's inception is quite an achievement. --Louis Pattison