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Blowback

(Hollywood)

Tricky has been to the darkest of dark places, of that there is little doubt. After Maxinquaye, his critically acclaimed debut, the trip-hop pioneer took his listeners into the depths of his scarred soul, with albums like Nearly God, Pre-Millennium Tension and Angels With Dirty Faces. However, there were moments of light and sublime beauty on all those albums, brutally ignored by critics, that showed what Tricky could do when he really tried to smile.

Now those chinks of light have burst into blinding visions. Having solved his psychological problems, seemingly related to a rare eating disorder, Tricky has followed up his last set, Juxtapose, with a searing comeback. And he has a motley crew helping out - from Alanis Morissette and Cyndi Lauper to Ed Kowalczyk

from Live, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and vocalists Ambersunshower

and Hawkman.

Opener Excess is a brilliant, almost summer track to which Morissette lends an affecting chorus. This is followed by Evolution Revolution Love which, shock of all shocks, will have you singing along. The same goes for Over Me.

There are dark moments of course, with tracks like Girls, Diss Never

(Dig Up We History) and Five Days, but these have a melodic line lacking in previous efforts, and even then they are delightfully balanced by more delicate moments. Chief among those are Your Name and A Song For Yukiko in which Tricky almost coos in his weed-battered voice.

Add to that a cover of the Wonder Woman theme tune and Nirvana's Something In The Way and you have a selection of the most eclectic, brilliant music dedicated to disc. Perhaps the only thing it lacks is his old singer, Martina, but as this album clearly demonstrates, change isn't necessarily a bad thing.



Tricky