Massive Attack

Biography

Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol, England, by Robert "3D" Del Naja, Grant "Daddy G" Marshall, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws and Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles. As of 2025, the group consists of Del Naja and Marshall.
They released their debut album in 1991, Blue Lines×Blue Lines8 April 1991 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracks1Safe From Harm5:192One Love4:493Blue Lines4:224Be Thankful for What You’ve Got4:105Five Man Army6:046Unfinished Sympathy5:087Daydreaming4:158Lately4:269Hymn of the Big Wheel6:37, which has been included on numerous best-of lists and is generally considered the first album of the trip-hop genre. The single "Unfinished Sympathy×Unfinished Sympathy11 February 1991 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Unfinished Sympathy (Paul Oakenfold mix)5:212Unfinished Sympathy (Paul Oakenfold instrumental mix)5:193Unfinished Sympathy5:144Unfinished Sympathy (instrumental)4:03" was a chart hit in Europe, including number one on the Dutch Top 40, and was later voted the 63rd-greatest song of all time in a poll by NME. In 1994, they released their second album, Protection×Protection26 September 1994 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Protection7:512Karmacoma5:163Three3:494Weather Storm5:005Spying Glass5:216Better Things4:197Eurochild5:078Sly5:259Heat Miser3:3910Light My Fire (live)3:15. Thaws left the band later that year to pursue a solo career. In 1998, they released their third album, Mezzanine×Mezzanine17 April 1998 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Angel6:212Risingson5:003Teardrop5:314Inertia Creeps5:595Exchange4:136Dissolved Girl6:097Man Next Door5:578Black Milk6:239Mezzanine5:5810Group Four8:1411(Exchange)4:1212Three3:4913Weather Storm5:00, giving them their first number one on the UK Albums Chart. Mezzanine contains the top-10 single "Teardrop×Teardrop21 April 1998 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Teardrop (LP version)5:312Euro Zero Zero4:243Teardrop (Scream Team remix)6:454Teardrop (Mad Professor Mazaruni instrumental mix)6:24". In 1999, Vowles left the band, with Del Naja and Marshall continuing as a duo. They further released the albums 100th Window×100th WindowDecember 2002 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Future Proof5:412What Your Soul Sings6:403Everywhen7:394Special Cases5:115Butterfly Caught7:366A Prayer for England5:477Small Time Shot Away8:008Name Taken7:509Antistar8:1810I Against I5:42 (2003) and Heligoland×Heligoland3 February 2010 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Pray for Rain6:442Babel5:203Splitting the Atom5:174Girl I Love You5:275Psyche3:256Flat of the Blade5:307Paradise Circus4:588Rush Minute4:519Saturday Come Slow3:4410Atlas Air7:49 (2010).
Both Blue Lines and Mezzanine feature in Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The group have collaborated with several recurring guest vocalists, including Horace Andy, Shara Nelson, Tracey Thorn, Elizabeth Fraser, Sinéad O'Connor, Damon Albarn and Hope Sandoval.
Massive Attack's awards include a Brit Award for Best British Dance Act, two MTV Europe Music Awards, and two Q Awards. Their five studio albums have sold over 13 million copies worldwide. Massive Attack also support several political, human rights and environmental causes.

The Wild Bunch and "Any Love" (1980s–1990)

DJs Daddy G and Mushroom, and rappers Tricky and 3D met as members of partying collective the Wild Bunch in the early 1980s. One of the first homegrown sound systems in the UK, the Wild Bunch became dominant on the Bristol club scene in the mid-1980s.
Massive Attack was created in 1988 as a spin-off quartet. Unsigned, the group (Mushroom, Daddy G, 3D and Tricky) put out "Any Love×Any Love1988 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracksA1Any Love5:04A2Any Love (bonus)2:16B1Any Love (instrumental)4:57B2Any Love (a cappella)0:58" as a single. It was co-produced by Bristol double-act Smith & Mighty and featured the falsetto-voiced singer-songwriter Carlton McCarthy. In 1990, they committed to deliver six studio albums and a "best of" compilation to Circa Records. This record label became a subsidiary of, and was later subsumed into, Virgin Records, which in turn was acquired by EMI.

Blue Lines and "Unfinished Sympathy" (1991–1993)

3D co-wrote Neneh Cherry's Manchild in 1989 alongside producer, Jonny Dollar. This working relationship continued with Cherry helping Massive Attack to record their first album Blue Lines×Blue Lines8 April 1991 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracks1Safe From Harm5:192One Love4:493Blue Lines4:224Be Thankful for What You’ve Got4:105Five Man Army6:046Unfinished Sympathy5:087Daydreaming4:158Lately4:269Hymn of the Big Wheel6:37. Cherry's partner Cameron McVey was an executive producer of the album and became the group's first manager. Cherry and McVey provided financial support, via the Cherry Bear organisation, and the album was partly recorded in their house. The band used guest vocalists, interspersed with their own sprechgesang stylings, on top of what became regarded as an essentially British creative sampling production; a trademark sound that fused hip hop, soul, reggae and other eclectic references, both musical and lyrical. The album used vocalists including Horace Andy and Shara Nelson, a former Wild Bunch cohort. MC Willie Wee, also once part of the Wild Bunch, featured. Neneh Cherry sang backing vocals on environmentalist anthem, "Hymn of the Big Wheel×Hymn of the Big Wheel10 February 1992 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1Hymn of the Big Wheel (original)6:382Hymn of the Big Wheel (Nellee Hooper mix)5:523Home of the Whale4:084Be Thankful for What You've Got (Perfecto mix)6:175Any Love (Larry Heard mix)4:28". Co-writing and co-production for Blue Lines was also provided by Jonny Dollar.
Blue Lines was released on 8 April 1991 on Virgin Records. The album has been retrospectively considered the first of the "trip-hop" genre and received critical acclaim.
That year they released "Unfinished Sympathy×Unfinished Sympathy11 February 1991 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Unfinished Sympathy (Paul Oakenfold mix)5:212Unfinished Sympathy (Paul Oakenfold instrumental mix)5:193Unfinished Sympathy5:144Unfinished Sympathy (instrumental)4:03" as a single, with its genre defining strings recorded at Abbey Road studio, composed by Jonny Dollar and later arranged by Wil Malone. The group temporarily shortened their name to "Massive" on the advice of McVey to avoid controversy relating to the Gulf War. They returned to being "Massive Attack" for their next single, "Safe from Harm×Safe From Harm27 May 1991 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Safe From Harm (7" version)4:282Safe From Harm (original)5:183Safe From Harm (Perfecto mix)8:13".

Protection and Melankolic (1994–1997)

For their second album, the band brought in Everything but the Girl's Tracey Thorn and Nicolette as vocalists and released "Protection×Protection26 September 1994 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Protection7:512Karmacoma5:163Three3:494Weather Storm5:005Spying Glass5:216Better Things4:197Eurochild5:078Sly5:259Heat Miser3:3910Light My Fire (live)3:15" on 26 September 1994.
With McVey out of the picture, Massive Attack enlisted the production talents of former Wild Bunch Nellee Hooper to co-produce some songs on it, with Mushroom. Other tracks were co-produced by the Insects and 3D. A dub version, No Protection, was released the following year by Mad Professor. Protection won a Brit award for Best Dance Act. The other collaborators on Protection were Marius de Vries and Craig Armstrong, a Scottish classical pianist.
Tricky decided to end his involvement with the band in 1995 in order to pursue a solo career. The crediting of Tricky's contribution for Blue Lines was also a source of friction. This was also the period of the release of Tricky's Maxinquaye and Portishead's Dummy. The term "trip hop" was coined and was referred to by the media as part of the "Bristol scene". Also in 1996, Massive Attack produced two remixes of "Milk" by Garbage, released across the single's UK 12-inch vinyl formats: "D Mix" and "Trance Mix".
Massive Attack started a label in 1995 distributed by Virgin/EMI, Melankolic, and signed Craig Armstrong and a number of other artists such as Horace Andy, Lewis Parker, Alpha, Sunna, and Day One. The group espoused a non-interference philosophy that allowed the artists to make their albums in the way they wanted.
The same year, the Insects became unavailable for co-production and having parted ways with Nellee Hooper, the band were introduced to Neil Davidge, a relatively unknown producer who had an association with anonymous dance-pop outfit DNA. The first track they worked on was "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game", a cover version sung by Tracey Thorn for the Batman Forever soundtrack. Initially, Davidge was brought in as engineer, but soon became producer.
The group increasingly fractured in the lead-up to the third album, Davidge having to co-produce the three producers' ideas separately. Mushroom was reported to be unhappy with the degree of the post-punk direction in which 3D, increasingly filling the production vacuum, was taking the band.
The group contributed to the film soundtrack of The Jackal in 1997, recording "Superpredators (Metal Postcard)", a song containing a sample of Siouxsie and the Banshees' "Mittageisen" and "Dissolved Girl", a new song with vocals by Sarah Jay (that was later remixed for the next album), which was featured at the beginning of the 1999 film The Matrix, although it was not on the official soundtrack.
Later that year, they released a single, "Risingson×Risingson30 June 1997 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracksA1Risingson (Otherside)4:59A2Risingson (The Underdog remix)6:05B1Risingson (Darren Emerson for Underworld remix)5:29B2Superpredators (Mad Professor remix)5:14", from what would be their third album, Mezzanine×Mezzanine17 April 1998 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Angel6:212Risingson5:003Teardrop5:314Inertia Creeps5:595Exchange4:136Dissolved Girl6:097Man Next Door5:578Black Milk6:239Mezzanine5:5810Group Four8:1411(Exchange)4:1212Three3:4913Weather Storm5:00.

Mezzanine, "Teardrop", Vowles's departure and Marshall's absence (1997–2001)

3D became the band's main producer in 1997 in the recording sessions that made Mezzanine, Massive Attack's most commercially successful album, selling nearly four million copies. It featured Neil Davidge as a sound engineer and co-producer, and Horace Andy and Elizabeth Fraser as the main guest vocalists. During recording, Angelo Bruschini became their permanent lead guitarist both in a session capacity and live.
The album's second single "Teardrop×Teardrop21 April 1998 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Teardrop (LP version)5:312Euro Zero Zero4:243Teardrop (Scream Team remix)6:454Teardrop (Mad Professor Mazaruni instrumental mix)6:24", sung by Fraser of Cocteau Twins, was accompanied by a video directed by Walter Stern featuring an animatronic singing fetus. Horace Andy sang on three songs, including the single "Angel×Angel13 July 1998 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1Angel6:212Angel (radio edit)5:253Angel (Blur remix)6:234Angel (Mad Professor remix)6:165Group Four (Mad Professor remix)7:53". A track the band made for the film The Jackal, "Dissolved Girl", sung by Sarah Jay, was remixed for inclusion on the record.
Mezzanine went on to win a Q Award for Best Album as well as being nominated for a Mercury Prize.
The album had been promoted extensively, and the "Mezzanine×Mezzanine17 April 1998 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Angel6:212Risingson5:003Teardrop5:314Inertia Creeps5:595Exchange4:136Dissolved Girl6:097Man Next Door5:578Black Milk6:239Mezzanine5:5810Group Four8:1411(Exchange)4:1212Three3:4913Weather Storm5:00" tour and promotion cycle lasted from February 1998 until late November 1999, including over 150 shows and appearances, touring festivals in Europe and arenas in the UK. During the tour, friction between Mushroom and the other band members came to a head. Mushroom was unhappy with the direction of the group and having to appear on tour. After the tours, Mushroom left the band.
Around this time, 3D, with Davidge decamped into Ridge Farm Studio with friends and band members of Lupine Howl (made up of former members of the band Spiritualized, including Damon Reece, who went on to be Massive Attack's permanent session drummer and one of two live drummers) towards a fourth Massive Attack LP, taking things even further into a rock direction. 2001 also saw the release of Eleven Promos, a DVD of Massive Attack's 11 music videos thus far, including "Angel", a £100,000+ promo.
Despite having taken 3D's side after Mushroom's departure and participating in a webcast as a duo in 2000, Daddy G took a personal break from the band in 2001.

100th Window, Marshall's return and Collected (2002–2006)

With Daddy G temporarily no longer involved in the studio, Davidge and 3D steered "LP4" on their own.
Enlisting the vocals of Sinéad O'Connor and Horace Andy, 100th Window was mastered in August 2002 and released in February 2003. Featuring no samples or cover versions, 100th Window was not as critically well received in Britain as the other records, although the album received a warmer reception internationally, scoring a 75 out of 100 on review aggregation site Metacritic. The group collaborated with Mos Def on the track "I Against I×I Against I2002 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAI Against I5:46BI Against I (instrumental)5:46", which appeared on the "Special Cases×Special Cases24 February 2003 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Special Cases (radio edit)3:492Special Cases (Akufen remix)9:583I Against I5:41" single and the soundtrack for Blade II. "I Against I" is also notable as the only track from the 100th Window sessions that features a writing credit from Daddy G. 100th Window sold over one million copies and was toured extensively (including Queen Square, Bristol—a one-off sell out concert set up in the city centre park, which was seen as a homecoming).
3D was arrested on allegations involving child pornography in 2003, which were reported widely in the media. 3D was soon eliminated as a suspect (although he was charged with ecstasy possession and unable to get a U.S. visa for a while) with Daddy G and fans offering their support. The arrest affected the beginning of the 100th Window tour schedule.
3D and Davidge agreed to an offer from director Louis Leterrier to score the entire soundtrack for Danny the Dog×Danny the Dog11 October 2004 · Album · SoundtrackSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 21 tracks1Opening Title1:102Atta Boy1:293P Is for Piano1:574Simple Rules1:215Polaroid Girl3:006Sam3:087One Thought at a Time4:238Confused Images1:599Red Light Means Go2:0510Collar Stays On1:5111You’ve Never Had a Dream2:4612Right Way to Hold a Spoon3:1913Everybody’s Got a Family1:2914Two Rocks and a Cup of Water2:3215Sweet Is Good1:3416Montage1:5517Everything About You Is New2:2618The Dog Obeys2:2019Danny the Dog5:5320I Am Home4:1421The Academy1:45, starring Jet Li, in 2005. Dot Allison, who had sung with the band on the 100th Window tour, sang the end title track, "Aftersun". 3D and Davidge also scored the soundtrack for the Bullet Boy film, with 3D on the end title vocals.
Daddy G started coming into the studio the same year, although little came of the material. He decided to instead work with a production duo, Robot Club, in another studio, feeling that he would be more free to develop tracks in the way he wanted. Meanwhile, 3D and Davidge recorded with a number of different singers as well as creating a track named "Twilight", for UNKLE's War Stories album. Later that year, Massive Attack decided to release their contractually obliged compilation album Collected×Collected23 March 2006 · Album · CompilationSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1Safe From Harm5:192Karmacoma5:143Angel6:144Teardrop5:285Inertia Creeps5:546Protection7:457Butterfly Caught5:098Unfinished Sympathy5:129Risingson4:5810What Your Soul Sings6:3711Future Proof5:4312Five Man Army5:2213Sly4:5714Live With Me4:51 in 2006. They released it with a second disc, made up of previously released non-album songs and unreleased sketches.

"Weather Underground" / Heligoland (2007–2011)

3D and Davidge scored three soundtracks in 2007: In Prison My Whole Life (which featured a track called "Calling Mumia" with vocals by American rapper Snoop Dogg), Battle in Seattle and Trouble the Water.
Massive Attack hosted a charity benefit for the Hoping Foundation, a charity for Palestinian children in 2007.
In 2008 it was announced that Massive Attack were to curate the UK's Southbank Meltdown, a week-long event. It was suggested in interviews that this event would inspire Massive Attack back into action, having spent several years drifting towards the completion of their fifth studio album.
Later that year, 3D and Daddy G headed to Damon Albarn's studios for some writing and jamming. Around this time, Davidge scored the soundtrack for a Paul McGuigan film, Push, and in December, 3D completed the score for 44 Inch Chest with the Insects and Angelo Badalamenti.
Davidge and 3D got back together in 2009 with Daddy G to finish the fifth album, incorporating bits of the Albarn material. Later it was announced that the band were to headline the 2009 Bestival festival, and soon after that they were to tour the UK and Europe. In May, 3D's instrumental "Herculaneum", featured in the film Gomorra, won an Italian award for Best Song. Later that month, 3D and Daddy G picked up a special Ivor Novello award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music.
Jonny Dollar died of cancer on 29 May 2009 aged 45, survived by his wife and four children. Dollar was the programmer and hands-on producer behind Blue Lines, writing some of the melodies that were the basis for the string arrangements in "Unfinished Sympathy×Unfinished Sympathy11 February 1991 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Unfinished Sympathy (Paul Oakenfold mix)5:212Unfinished Sympathy (Paul Oakenfold instrumental mix)5:193Unfinished Sympathy5:144Unfinished Sympathy (instrumental)4:03".
Their new EP, Splitting the Atom×Splitting the Atom4 October 2009 · EPSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Splitting the Atom5:162Pray for Rain6:443Bulletproof Love (Van Rivers & The Subliminal Kid remix)6:434Psyche (Flash Treatment)3:46, was announced on 25 August 2009. The other new tracks on the EP were Tunde Adebimpe's "Pray For Rain", Martina Topley-Bird's "Psyche" and Guy Garvey's "Bulletproof Love". The latter two tracks appear as remixes of the album versions.
The fifth album was released on 12 November 2009, called Heligoland×Heligoland3 February 2010 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Pray for Rain6:442Babel5:203Splitting the Atom5:174Girl I Love You5:275Psyche3:256Flat of the Blade5:307Paradise Circus4:588Rush Minute4:519Saturday Come Slow3:4410Atlas Air7:49, after the German archipelago of Heligoland, after a previous project called "Weather Underground" was abandoned. 3D said "I think it's got definitely a more organic feel". The opening track, "Pray For Rain" featured guest vocals of TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe. Damon Albarn, Martina Topley-Bird and Mazzy Star frontwoman Hope Sandoval also provide guest vocals on the album. 3D said in October 2010, to the Spinner website, that his plans were now for "unorthodox" releases of several EPs in 2011, rather than an album.

Ritual Spirit EP and working with Tricky again (2013–2019)

In a 2013 interview for his first solo art show since 2008, 3D confirmed that not only was new Massive Attack material in the works, but that rumours of a reunion with Tricky were true. Tricky had not been featured on a Massive Attack album since 1994's Protection×Protection26 September 1994 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Protection7:512Karmacoma5:163Three3:494Weather Storm5:005Spying Glass5:216Better Things4:197Eurochild5:078Sly5:259Heat Miser3:3910Light My Fire (live)3:15.

"The idea is to put a record out next year", he says. "We actually get on really well at the moment because we don't spend time in the studio together", he says with a wry grin. "Me and Tricky wrote some new tracks in Paris last year, which haven't seen the light of day yet – but that was fun. They should be on the next album."
Massive Attack headlined at Secret Solstice, a new music festival in Reykjavík in June 2014. On 21 February 2015, it was confirmed through the Massive Attack Facebook page that they would be collaborating with Run the Jewels.
An iPhone application, Fantom, was released in 2016, developed by a team including 3D, which let users hear parts of four new songs by remixing them in real time, using the phone's location, movement, clock, heartbeat, and camera.
The group released a new EP on 28 January 2016, Ritual Spirit×Ritual Spirit28 January 2016 · EPSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Dead Editors4:452Ritual Spirit3:553Voodoo in My Blood4:014Take It There4:31, which includes the four songs released on Fantom. The EP was written and produced by 3D and new collaborator, Euan Dickinson.
It was their first release since the 2011 Four Walls / Paradise Circus collaboration with Burial, and the first time since 1994 that Tricky had been featured on Massive Attack content. Scottish hip-hop group Young Fathers, London rapper Roots Manuva and singer Azekel also featured on the EP.
Massive Attack previewed three new songs on 26 July 2016: "Come Near Me", "The Spoils×The Spoils26 July 2016 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1The Spoils5:452Come Near Me4:54", and "Dear Friend×Dear Friend30 September 2016 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksADear FriendBDear Friend" on the Fantom iPhone application on which they previously previewed the four songs from the Ritual Spirit EP.
They released a new EP on 29 July 2016, "The Spoils", which includes "The Spoils" and "Come Near Me", both previewed on Fantom. The EP was written and produced by Daddy G, without 3D's involvement. "The Spoils" features vocals from American singer-songwriter Hope Sandoval, and "Come Near Me" features British vocalist Ghostpoet. A music video for "Come Near Me", directed by Ed Morris, and featuring Kosovan actress Arta Dobroshi, was released the same day as the single. The video for "The Spoils", featuring Cate Blanchett and directed by Australian director John Hillcoat, was released on 9 August 2016.
Massive Attack cancelled their appearance at the 2018 Mad Cool festival in Madrid because of sound bleed from Franz Ferdinand on a neighbouring stage. The festival offered several solutions to accommodate the band, but Massive Attack rejected them all.
Massive Attack went on tour in 2019 to promote the 20th anniversary rerelease of Mezzanine, billed as "Mezzanine XX1". The American tour dates, originally scheduled for April, were postponed to September due to illness in the band.

Eutopia EP and audiovisual releases (2020–present)

Massive Attack released a political audiovisual EP in July 2020 called Eutopia×Eutopia10 July 2020 · EPSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1#CLIMATEMERGENCY4:202#TAXHAVENS4:133#UNIVERSALBASICINCOME5:21. The three-track fusion was created across five cities during the COVID-19 global lockdown period, and was partly formed by generative algorithmic visuals from AI art pioneer Mario Klingemann and collaborations with Algiers, Young Fathers and US poet Saul Williams. The conceptual project, co-written and produced by 3D and documentary filmmaker Mark Donne, featured strong arguments for global system change from UN Paris Climate Agreement author Christiana Figueres, founder of the Universal Basic Income Principle Professor Guy Standing and inventor of the US "Wealth Tax" policy Professor Gabriel Zucman. Each video ends with a quote from Thomas More's Utopia.
Massive Attack were scheduled to headline the 2022 edition of the Primavera Sound music festival in Barcelona, Spain, but an unnamed band member's serious illness forced the band to cancel its appearance with the rest of its European tour. Angelo Bruschini, who played guitar on Mezzanine and 100th Window and had toured with the band since 1995, died of lung cancer on 23 October 2023.
The group played their first show in five years on 5 June 2024 in Gothenburg, Sweden, joined by guests Elizabeth Fraser, Horace Andy and Young Fathers, who all toured with the band during their European shows that summer. The same line-up played Bristol in August. Billed as a 'Climate Action Accelerator' gig, the group worked with local businesses to reduce the event's environmental impact. Around this time, Massive Attack announced their first American tour since 2019; again to feature Fraser, Andy and Young Fathers. However, on 11 October 2024, the group cancelled all the US dates less than a week before. They cited "unforeseen circumstances" as the reason.
In a December 2024 interview with NME, 3D revealed plans to release new music next year that had been ready since 2020 but was held up by record label disputes. He also said the band rejected an offer to play Coachella 2025 because of its environmental impact. In September 2025, Massive Attack called for the removal of their music from Spotify in protest against Spotify CEO Daniel Ek's investment in artificial intelligence military company Helsing. In April 2026, the band released "Boots on the Ground", a track featuring Tom Waits that was recorded several years prior.

Musical style

Some of their most noted songs have been without choruses and have featured dramatically atmospheric dynamics. They use distorted guitar crescendos, lavish orchestral arrangements and prominent looped/shifting basslines. Underpinned by high and exacting production values, sometimes using copious digital editing and mixing. The pace of their music has often been slower than prevalent British dance music of the time. These and other psychedelic, soundtrack-like and DJist techniques, formed their style which has often been emulated. Journalists described this sound as "trip hop" from the mid-nineties onwards. In an interview in 2006, Daddy G said, "We used to hate that terminology trip-hop so bad," [laughs] "You know, as far we were concerned, Massive Attack music was unique, so to put it in a box was to pigeonhole it and to say, 'Right, we know where you guys are coming from.'"

'Fire Sale' exhibition

A solo exhibition of Del Naja's art was held at the Lazarides gallery in central London, from 24 May to 22 June 2013. The show's content spanned a period of over twenty years and featured many of the art pieces that Del Naja created for Massive Attack. Each piece, reinterpreted especially for the exhibition, was hand-printed and finished. The show also featured three one-off 'digital infinity mirrors', two of which contained phrases supplied by Reprieve that were extracted from drone pilot dialogues. Del Naja performed a DJ set during the opening night on 23 May 2013.

Massive Attack and Adam Curtis

Del Naja conceived and designed an eight-night festival with filmmaker Adam Curtis—in collaboration with UVA (United Visual Artists)—that premiered in Manchester, UK in July 2013. The festival featured Curtis's film, unofficially titled The Plan, which was projected on a huge screen surrounding the audience, while music from Massive Attack was interweaved throughout the film. Del Naja, who orchestrated the film's soundtrack, described the experience as a "collective hallucination" and the film was also shown at the Manchester International Festival in July 2013. Music created by Del Naja for the festival became the score for a BBC production entitled HyperNormalisation in 2016.
Del Naja and Adam Curtis teamed up in 2019 for a second time on a live show based on the band's Mezzanine album. The show challenged the idea of nostalgia and power, and featured machine learning GANS and deep fakes from Mario Klingemann, as well as new films from Curtis that were used to tell a narrative story. They were used as visuals for cover versions of non Massive Attack songs based on samples and loops that made up the album's identity.

Mezzanine DNA

It was reported in April 2019 that Massive Attack had encoded Mezzanine into DNA to mark the 20th anniversary of the seminal 1998 album. The album has also been made available in the form of a matte black spray paint can. A limited number of spray cans will contain the DNA encoded audio within matte black paint and each can will contain approximately one million copies of the album. Addressing the novel storage method, Del Naja – who is also known as a graffiti artist as '3D' – said: "It’s a creative way to store your back catalogue, although DNA-encoded spray paint is unlikely to be adopted by street artists seeking anonymity".

Anti-war advocacy

Robert Del Naja was critical of the policies of the UK government under Tony Blair. He was strongly opposed to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and with fellow musician Damon Albarn personally paid for full-page advertisements against the war in the NME magazine.
Massive Attack have worked with Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Stop the War Coalition, while also having helped fund a legal challenge to military intervention in international courts.

Human rights

Massive Attack curated the annual Meltdown festival on London's South Bank in 2008. During the two weeks of live performance, cinema and art, they worked with human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith and his organisation Reprieve which uses the law to enforce the human rights of prisoners.
The video shot by Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin for the song "Saturday Come Slow", featuring Albarn, drew attention to the use of music in torture.
Massive Attack donated all proceeds from their 2010 EP Atlas Air×Atlas Air19 November 2010 · EPSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Atlas Air (Jneiro Jarel's Lavender remix)5:422Redlight (Clark remix)4:293Atlas Air (Goldsworthy remix)8:42 to War Child, a charity the band previously supported when they contributed to The Help Album.

British politics

Del Naja, musicians Albarn and Brian Eno, and United Visual Artists contributed to a Greenpeace demonstration in 2007 against the renewal of the Trident nuclear programme that was held on board the Arctic Sunrise on the River Thames.
On the eve of the Bristol Mayor election, the band caused some surprise by endorsing independent millionaire and former Liberal Democrat George Ferguson, citing the need for a mayor who would help facilitate creative projects to the city, and was not simply following a party political agenda. Previously, Del Naja had openly criticised Ferguson for being a member of the Society of Merchant Venturers, an organisation dating back to the 16th century which had many connections with the Bristol slave trade.
Along with other public figures, Massive Attack signed a letter supporting Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in the 2019 general election, describing him as "a beacon of hope in the struggle against emergent far-right nationalism, xenophobia and racism in much of the democratic world" and endorsed him in the 2019 UK general election.
Massive Attack endorsed Carla Denyer for the 2024 general election, the co-leader of the Green Party, as MP for Bristol Central. They said "General Election 2024 is an opportunity for #Bristol to consolidate its green reputation by electing an MP who is resolutely focused on #ClimateAction and unambiguous on the matter of genocide in #Gaza. @carla_denyer is that candidate."

International politics

Del Naja and Thom Yorke of Radiohead threw an unofficial party at the occupied UBS building in the city of London in December 2011, in support for the international Occupy movement.
During a concert in Istanbul in 2014, Massive Attack named those who died in anti-government protests at Gezi Park on the outdoor screen at their back with the following sentences: "Their killers are still out there" and "We won't forget Soma".
Massive Attack cancelled a concert in June 2024 at the Black Sea Arena in Tbilisi, originally scheduled for 28 July, in response to the Georgian government's repression of the nationwide civil protests against law proposals that could have restricted freedom of press and LGBT rights in the country; in an official statement, the band explained their decision by writing quote, "At this moment, performing at the state-owned Black Sea Arena could be seen as an endorsement of their violent crackdown against peaceful protests and civil society".

Israeli–Palestinian conflict

Del Naja and Marshall visited the Bourj el-Barajneh refugee camp in Lebanon in July 2014 to meet with Palestinian volunteers at an educational centre. The band's profit from the show in Byblos was donated to the centre. Massive Attack performed three shows in 2017 in support of Hoping, an organisation that helps raise money and supports projects for Palestinian youth in refugee camps in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria.
Massive Attack have previously played three shows in Israel, but have boycotted it since 1999 "as a form of non-violent pressure on Israel to end its brutal occupation of Palestine". They have described their decision as "not an action of aggression towards the Israeli people", but "towards the [Israeli] government and its policies", arguing that "the Palestinians [in Gaza and the West Bank] have no access to the same fundamental benefits that the Israelis do." Massive Attack co-signed an open letter in May 2020 urging Israel to end the blockade of the Gaza Strip.
The group publicly expressed their support to the music acts who had decided to boycott 2024 The Great Escape Festival in Brighton and Hove, in protest against the event's sponsor Barclays and its investments in companies supplying arms that were reportedly used by Israeli military forces in their invasion of the Gaza Strip.
After the band Kneecap were criticized for displaying pro-Palestinian messages at Coachella in April 2025, Massive Attack published a statement supporting the group saying, "Kneecap are not the story. Gaza is the story. Genocide is the story."
The band showed a clip of late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar walking in a tunnel in the Gaza Strip in a backdrop video at a concert during the 2025 Lido Festival in Manchester. The display was criticized by Alex Gandler, deputy spokesperson for Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who said it was "just disgusting...aligning themselves with the worst humans. Not even hiding their hatred anymore." Israeli activist and writer Hen Mazzig accused them of "encouraging [sympathy] with Hamas" and incitement. The band responded by threatening to sue Mazzig for defamation, and defended the clip, which was cut with scenes from Jean Cocteau's Orpheus, as "placement and implicit tone of horrified lament; that an individual of power can take people down into hell". They also felt the criticism of the clip was selectively chosen from a broader montage of various issues and themes. Mazzig subsequently deleted the post.
Massive Attack joined the "No Music For Genocide" campaign, which calls for their music to be removed from streaming platforms in Israel. Massive Attack supports the campaign to free the imprisoned Palestinian political leader Marwan Barghouti, who has been described as the Palestinian Nelson Mandela. On several occasions in 2026, the band hosted Marwan's son Arab Barghouti on stage, to talk about his father and Palestine.
In July 2026, Massive Attack displayed Palestinian flags during a performance in Singapore, which led to the group being banned from performing in the country again. Singapore bans the open display of all foreign flags without a permit.

Decarbonisation project

Robert Del Naja announced on 28 November 2019 that Massive Attack partnered with a research centre based at the University of Manchester to explore the music industry's climate impact. He wrote in a column in The Guardian: "the commissioning of the renowned Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research to map the full carbon footprint of typical tour cycles, and to look specifically at the three key areas where CO2 emissions in our sector are generated." This will include information about band travel and production, audience transport and venue. "The resulting roadmap to decarbonisation will be shared with other touring acts, promoters and festival/venue owners to assist swift and significant emissions reductions."

Environmentalism

Massive Attack donated the income from a Lincoln car commercial in 2010 to the clean up campaign after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Since October 2018, Massive Attack have also been supporting the climate activists of the Extinction Rebellion group, also known as XR, which conducted protests in London in October 2018 then April 2019. Massive Attack played a DJ set on 21 April for the Extinction Rebellion protesters in the heart of London in Marble Arch. In July and October 2019, the group protested in 60 other cities worldwide, Robert Del Naja providing a portable radio network using speakers in backpacks with receivers and transmitters for the campaigners in London.
The band published a report in 2021 they had commissioned from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. The report examined the impact of live music on the environment and gave a set of recommendations for meeting the Paris agreement targets. Del Naja criticised the UK government for not doing more to meet the targets. Massive Attack became the first band globally to commit their touring companies to the UN "Race to Zero" – Paris 1.5 compatible emissions reductions schedule.
The band played a Bristol show named "Act 1.5" on 24 August 2024 with the goal of being a "large-scale climate action accelerator", blazing a "trail for new standards of decarbonisation of live music." There were 25 different measures to minimise carbon, including giving extra benefits to local attendees and those travelling by train, powering the venue by renewable energy only, serving only plant-based foods and minimising waste through compostable plates and cutlery.

Other

Massive Attack performed at a charity concert in Bristol for tsunami relief in 2005 with Adrian Utley and Geoff Barrow of Portishead. The two-night event featured Massive Attack, Portishead, Robert Plant, the Coral and Albarn. Massive Attack performed an intimate "un-plugged" set, and invited Fraser to reprise her lead vocals on "Teardrop×Teardrop21 April 1998 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Teardrop (LP version)5:312Euro Zero Zero4:243Teardrop (Scream Team remix)6:454Teardrop (Mad Professor Mazaruni instrumental mix)6:24". The group collaborated with Portishead's Beth Gibbons on the song "Glory Box" to end their set.
Following the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal in 2018, Massive Attack suspended their Facebook page, stating: "In light of Facebook’s continued disregard for your privacy, their lack of transparency and disregard for accountability – Massive Attack will be temporarily withdrawing."

Legacy

Despite the band rejecting the label, Massive Attack are generally considered to be a pioneering act of the Bristol music scene and the trip hop genre, with some calling them the greatest trip hop band. Their debut album, Blue Lines×Blue Lines8 April 1991 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracks1Safe From Harm5:192One Love4:493Blue Lines4:224Be Thankful for What You’ve Got4:105Five Man Army6:046Unfinished Sympathy5:087Daydreaming4:158Lately4:269Hymn of the Big Wheel6:37, is generally considered to be the first album of the genre, even though the term was not coined until 1994. Both Blue Lines and Mezzanine are considered to be amongst the best albums of the 1990s and of all time.
"Unfinished Sympathy×Unfinished Sympathy11 February 1991 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Unfinished Sympathy (Paul Oakenfold mix)5:212Unfinished Sympathy (Paul Oakenfold instrumental mix)5:193Unfinished Sympathy5:144Unfinished Sympathy (instrumental)4:03" was voted the 10th greatest song of all time in a poll by The Guardian in 1999.

Billboard Music Awards

The Billboard Music Awards honor artists for commercial performance in the U.S., based on record charts published by Billboard. The awards are based on sales data by Nielsen SoundScan and radio information by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems. The award ceremony was held from 1990 to 2007, until its reintroduction in 2011.

Berlin Music Video Awards

The Berlin Music Video Awards is an international music festival that promotes the art of music videos.

D&AD Awards

Design and Art Direction (D&AD) is a British educational charity which exists to promote excellence in design and advertising.

Denmark GAFFA Awards

Delivered since 1991. The GAFFA Awards (Danish: GAFFA Prisen) are a Danish award that rewards popular music awarded by the magazine of the same name.

Edison Awards

The Edison Award is an annual Dutch music prize, awarded for outstanding achievements in the music industry. It is one of the oldest music awards in the world, having been presented since 1960.

Fryderyk

The Fryderyk is an annual award ceremony in Poland, presented by the Związek Producentów Audio Video, the IFPI Poland, since 1994.

Hungarian Music Awards

Hungarian Music Awards is the national music awards of Hungary, held every year since 1992 and promoted by Mahasz.

International Dance Music Awards

The International Dance Music Award was established in 1985. It is a part of the Winter Music Conference, a weeklong electronic music event held annually.

Ivor Novello Awards

The Ivor Novello Awards are awarded for songwriting and composing. The awards, named after the Cardiff born entertainer Ivor Novello, are presented annually in London by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA).

MTV Europe Music Awards

The MTV Europe Music Awards were established in 1994 by MTV Europe to celebrate the most popular music videos in Europe. Massive Attack has received two awards from three nominations.

NME Awards

The NME Awards are annual music awards show founded by the music magazine NME.

Q Awards

The Q Awards is the UK's annual music awards held by music magazine Q for excellence in music. Massive Attack has received two awards from two nominations.

Brit Awards

The Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards.

UK Music Video Awards

The UK Music Video Awards is an annual celebration of creativity, technical excellence and innovation in music video and moving image for music.

Viva Comet Awards

VIVA Comet Awards were an annual awards ceremony, organised by VIVA Germany.