INTRO
TRICKY MAXINQUAYE
(Fourth And Broadway Records, 1995)
Today’s music headlines would have it that the mid-90s were fuelled solely by the brash hedonism of Britpop, but this is to wilfully ignore the new musical eclecticism that followed in the wake of rave’s huge impact against the backdrop of a country increasingly disgusted with political sleaze and scandal. And it’s here that Maxinquaye slunk in with the stealth of a cat returning from a night of nocturnal mystery. Tricky’s debut solo album, named after his mother Maxine Quaye, was immediately at odds with the guitar-led purveyors of the day as it crept, whispered and murmured into the collective ear like a prophet of paranoia. Gloriously original, its power to intrigue, disturb and seduce remains undiminished even three decades after its release.