Album Review: Tricky - False Idols

Tricky. An enigma wrapped in a Rizla dipped in formaldehyde. Over the course of nine albums the Bristolian has often proven unpredictable to say the least, happy to flit between such divergent genres as punk and 'trip-hop' (for lack of a better term) and whatever dark mutant styles lay between. And that's just over the course of a single album.

Now reaching his tenth – and first for his identically-named new label – Tricky continues to push the boundaries with little regard for 'the rules'. Recently quoted as saying False Idols was a throwback to his classic debut, Maxinquaye, several tracks bear testament to this; Nothing's Changed combines a '90s-style breakbeat, strings and the vocals of Francesca Belmonte while I'm Ready is as close to the old 'Tricky Kid' of the early Massive Attack days as we are ever likely to hear in 2013. The undeniably (gasp!) danceable 4/4 breaks of Bonnie & Clyde aside, the majority of the set resides in the usual seedy, slightly menacing, street-lit gutter blues, Tricky's regular partner in crime Martina Topley-Bird and a gallery of guest weirdos making everything sound dirty, an experience that leaves the listener feeling both a little naughty and in need of a good scrub. The brilliant Is That Your Life features a cold-blooded performance by Nneka, the sweet-yet-sad If Only I Knew moves into Portishead territory while at the other end of the scale, Parenthesis puts The Antlers' Peter Silberman's near-falsetto up against some heavy, noisy guitars to somewhat unpleasant effect.

So in many ways, the addition of multiple guest vocalists aside, False Idols is business as usual for Tricky – another unusual addition to an unusual catalogue.