Tricky and “ununiform”: an album marking Martina Topley-Bird’s return to their shared musical story

After three years, Tricky recorded his first solo album since moving to the German capital. Most of the material was created in Berlin, with four tracks recorded in Moscow, a city he visited frequently. During the winter session, the English artist invited stars of the local hip-hop and beat scene to collaborate. The record features outstanding rappers Scriptonite and Smoky Mo, alongside producers Gazgolder and Vasiliy Vakulenko, who provided the beat for the beautiful single “The Only Way”.

The album features wonderful female singers, including Franceska Bellmonte, but the renewed collaboration with Martina Topley-Bird is particularly significant. She contributed enormously to the success of his most famous records, “Maxinquaye”, “Nearly God”, “Pre-Millenium Tension” and “Angels With Dirty Faces”. Besides Martina and Franceska, another former romantic interest, famous actress Asia Argento, appears, alongside young singers Terra Lopez, Mina Rosa and Avalon Lurks. The latter’s voice features in a moving reworking of “Doll Parts” by Courtney Love and Hole.

After the dark, somewhat chaotic “Skilled Mechanics”, the trip-hop pioneer and Massive Attack co-founder found peace and creative inspiration abroad, returning with a more mature work full of inner harmony. Getting back on his feet both psychologically and financially, Tricky created an album that directly recalls his classic work and the sound of his earliest productions from the “Maxinquaye” period. He describes the excellent single “The Only Way” as “Hell Is Round The Corner pt.2”. “I have nothing left to prove; I feel comfortable drawing on what I’ve done before,” he comments. This change can also be heard as a response to recordings by artists who openly acknowledge the influence of Tricky’s 1990s music, including The xx, Gaika and CASisDEAD.

The co-creator of Massive Attack classics such as “Daydreaming” and “Karmacoma” explains that more mundane circumstances also contributed to the album’s relaxed mood. “It’s simply the first album in years where I don’t have any debts to pay off. No wonder I feel better,” Tricky laughs. “People tell me this record sounds like ‘Tricky’, but what does that actually mean?” he asks rhetorically. “ununiform” is a beautiful, intense and personal answer to that question.

Tricky’s concert in Wrocław promises to be equally exciting!

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