| · Long-awaited debut from Tricky vocal partner.
Martina Topley-Bird’s debut is either a slight disappointment or a pleasant surprise, depending on whether you thought "Makes Me Wanna Die" was entirely written by Martina or by Tricky.
The truth appears to be somewhere in between. This not-entirely-solo effort is co-written by her brother, with help from David Holmes, David Arnold and Tricky on various tracks, and although it covers a broad range of contemporary pop styles, from nu-soul through jazz-funk ballads, gospel and trip-hop, to detestably commercial blend of rock and hip-hop, her voice has no trouble giving the collection cohesion and personality.
Yes, it’s basically trip-hop revisited, updated and broken into its constituent parts (or at least those that fall within the Black American tradition), then given a typically mainstream British polish and warmth that doesn’t always serve her well. The single, as usual, is the worst track. Chosen because it covered the largest number of genres the result is a confused jumble.
As was to be expected, the ballads work best – the swooning "Anything," jazzy "Lullaby" and trippy "Sandpaper Kisses" or "Ilya." But even the ludicrous rock-out of "Too Tough to Die" is pretty effective. It takes a little effort to separate the diamonds from the muck, but in the end you’re left with a pretty strong collection. Not ground breaking, but fun.
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