Magic Doors by Portishead

Magic Doors was the third single Portishead pulled from Third, their 2008 album, and Island Records put it out on November 24, 2008. It's the record's most unsettling lullaby: Beth Gibbons sings like she's reading a letter she shouldn't have opened, while Geoff Barrow and Adrian Utley build a lurching, grinding backdrop around her that never quite settles into a groove.

Back on Dummy, the Bristol trio had married hip-hop production to a spy-film haze; Third is a colder, harsher beast, and this single sits right in its heart. Longtime collaborator John Minton made the video, more art film than promo clip, and a live take of the song cut for Current TV had already surfaced back in April as a bonus download on the UK edition of Third. It came after "The Rip", with "Chase the Tear" to follow, and it's Portishead sounding like nobody else on earth.

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