“It’s more of a communal feel. The people we worked with are friends really. The only person we don’t know was [Sandoval],” Marshall explains, clinking ice into a glass. “There was more of a feeling of song-based on this album. People don’t remember a clever passage of music that doesn’t have any meaning to it. People remember a song and that was the way we approached this album, from that angle. Also, we wanted a more organic approach than 100th Window. We’ve evolved from this sound-system-based/DJ-based thing into this band. We still have our differences in the way that we work and what we’re trying to achieve. A lot of the tracks on the album are self-starting and sometimes self-finished. But this is another phase of styles of music that we’ve drawn on.”
    Keeping their feet rooted while looking to the future is one of the main elements that has sustained Massive Attack’s relevance and kept their followers unwavering. For a group that releases an album every five years or so, Massive Attack has a steadfast fan-base. The more technology progresses, the deeper the connection Massive Attack develops with its fans. While the cyber-relationship is ongoing, Marshall and Del Naja are relying more on their live appearances as their main interface with the public.
    “People have more cyber-friends than they have real friends,” Marshall points out sadly — and a little condescendingly. “To me, that’s damn foolishness. People don’t know their neighbors nowadays. People are more worried about 600 friends on MySpace. With the way things have changed, people want interaction with bands and bands want interaction with people.”