Tricky

Tricky's Mixed Race, like his previous Knowle West Boy, features a, well, mixed bag of current sounds and collaborators, in support of the once top rude boy of British trip-hop. The single, "Murder Weapon," a cover of the quirky '90s dancehall hit by Echo Minott, could find its place in a Guy Ritchie soundtrack, given the right musical planner. It does its job for the radio, with a steady beat and infectious chorus, but it's little more than background noise. "Time to Dance" references two-step and minimal techno, vocally driven by Franky Riley, with literally a hint of his whispers in the background. Terry Lynn, known for her diverse bass lines, appears with a blunted redo of her Jamaican ghetto-tech anthem "Kingston Logic," with Tricky dropping a couple bars so he can claim the song as his, but it's robbed of its bass mentality. As an experimental artist, he's constantly seeking to re-invent himself, so one shouldn't expect a return to anything of his pre-millennial days. If anything stands out on Mixed Race, it's that Tricky can still create well-produced, commercially palatable music. It may pique the interest of new listeners, but this one is mostly for open-minded fans.