For better or worse Tricky has been an endearing figure of British music for a long time now. He's been an institute of the gritty, downbeat folk for over twenty years, a difficult wunderkind wallowing in a two decade-long funk. Adrian Thaws is the third album in reasonably quick succession; from Mixed Race (2010) through False Idols (2014), to present date. These releases all share an off-the-cuff, sketch oriented aesthetic. They are “throw anything at the wall and see what sticks” albums, a style which contributes greatly to both their highlights and their glaring flaws.
The chunky groove that runs for those
tantalizing first few bars of 'Sundown' does a sterling job in
raising your expectations for the album you are about to experience.
And then … nothing. The energy gets drained out after that and the
song just falls apart. Not a good start, but can it recover?
Unfortunately not. Most of the album finds Tricky limping listlessly
through tin pan funk, blaring synths, and rusty hip-hop abstractions.
In Tricky's defense, even his widely enjoyed albums were patchy
affairs. But at least they had revelatory moments, a 'Black Steel' or
'Hell is Around the Corner' to keep you holding on. That lucidity is
particularly sparse on Adrian Thaws. The level of stoned
detachment we've come to expect from Tricky is in full effect, if
anything too much so. He's gone from being an enigma to just being
absent.
Coming into Adrian Thaws we were
told to expect a “clubbing” album and in a strange way we
actually got one. This is what Tricky would play in a dance club.
Were you really anticipating a bunch of top 40 busting singles? Where
the cross-over hits at? Exactly. This is a typically gloomy affair
dressed up as a dance record, but only when the man himself can be
bothered. In fact much of the energetic veneer only serves to make
the dreary bits seem even more desperate. When those dancey numbers
arrive you are actually glad for the change in pace. The exact
combinations of these parts might be novel but we've seen and heard
all of these musical molecules from Tricky before.
I'm not usually one to comment too much
about lyrical content of album's because it's an extremely subjective
category within the completely subjective field of music critiquing.
Obviously not everyone can be a sparkling wordsmith. That being said,
if you find yourself getting caught up on some bad lines then it
needs to be mentioned. The hook on the Prodigy-baiting 'Why Don't
You' is just telling you, quite bluntly, to go get fucked. But when
you compare that to asking people to 'friend' him on Facebook or
lamenting that kids are going hungry because the mother “ain't got
shit” (both found in the cringe-worthy 'Lonnie Listen'), this
sounds almost intellectual.
In Adrian Thaws, Tricky has
named an album after himself and decided not to show up to the party.
He's always relied on other musicians to fill out his spartan
compositions but he's less present than ever. Francesca Belmont (on
her third album in a prominent vocalist role) does most of the heavy
lifting and the supporting cast pretty much do the rest. Some of
these contributors include Nigerian singer Nneka (who keeps 'Keep Me
in Your Shake' alive and kicking) along with MCs Blue Daisy, Bella
Gotti, and Mykki Blanco. All the while the real Adrian Thaws is
flitting in and out of the tracks like a ghost, contented to be as
much a spectator as he is a creator. This is one self-titled album
that does nothing to help us get to know the man behind the nom de
plume.
Rating: C
Recommended track: Keep Me in Your Shake
No comments:
Post a Comment