In 1994, I was sixteen – at that age when a new piece of music can still surprise you and blow your mind. As you get older, that level of surprise doesn’t occur that much anymore because you’ve heard it all before.

I was at a friend’s birthday party in his parents’ house and I was getting bored with the music that was playing that night – a mix of Europop, 2 Unlimited and Extreme’s “More than Words”. Ugh. So I went through the record collection that belonged to his parents. I found the obligatory Simon and Garfunkel records, The Bodyguard soundtrack and Eric Clapton’s Unplugged album. Nothing cool there. But in a small stack of cd’s lying on the cd player I saw this blue cover art that belonged to an album called “Dummy” by a group named Portishead. I hadn’t heard of them, but I was curious so I slid the cd into the player and waited.

As “Mysterons” started to fill the room with its sultry beats and eerie vocals, the party changed its mood. It was as if we were suddenly more mature and we were in this dark, sexy, slightly drunk place. Or at least I was…

I’ve been hooked on Beth Gibbons’ voice since that day – and even though my love for her started with “Dummy”, I think her album with Rustin Man is her masterpiece to date.

Kind regards,

Roel Kramer