Mezzanine

Mezzanine sounds like a band pulling itself apart under low light. 'Angel', 'Teardrop' and 'Inertia Creeps' turn trip-hop's comedown into menace, with bass and negative space doing as much work as the songs. The dread barely lifts. Even the softer moments seem to know what is waiting behind them.

The one where the paranoia becomes physical. Guitars, dread, Elizabeth Fraser on Teardrop, and a band close enough to breaking up that the tension is audible. The heaviest record here and the most influential on everything dark that followed.