Album Review: Tricky - False Idols

For the past 15 years Tricky has delivered a lot of good material, but his albums have been plagued by the hit and miss syndrome. Though Past Mistake demonstrates the devastating potential of his recent efforts, its host album Knowle West Boy (2008) was marred by inconsistency, and then the later Mixed Race (2010) dropped the ball even more.

In the present, here Tricky stands with False Idols, his tenth studio album and the debut launching his new record label of the same name. Thankfully, he's started this new venture off on the right foot by delivering the goods. His characteristic approach of structural minimalism is as refined as ever, and each of the guest vocalists work in tandem with Tricky's own musings to complement and expand upon the simplicity of their given structure. With none of the 15 tracks reaching even as far as the four-minute mark, each one of these cuts are straight and to the point. Opener Somebody's Sins is a sparse throwback to darker days that becomes propelled forward by the motion of throbbing bass and a reduced revolution of beats. Nothing Matters gets a little livelier, and from here the course flows through varied channels. Closer Passion Of The Christ comes off as a simplified take on DJ Krush's Jaku formula, yet Tricky's vocals cast the music in new light and it rounds out the record rather well.  

While Tricky's claims that False Idols is a better album than iconic '95 debut Maxinquaye should obviously be taken as complete hyperbole, it's at least his most accomplished and consistent long player since '98's Angels With Dirty Faces.