Martina Topley-Bird

London-born, Bristol-raised, her voice defined trip-hop's high-water mark — Tricky found her singing on a wall near his house in 1993 and she became the lead voice of Maxinquaye. Quixotic (2003), her solo debut, was Mercury-nominated and is a genuinely odd, star-studded record: Josh Homme on guitar, Mark Lanegan on vocals, David Holmes producing a track and Bond composer David Arnold arranging strings. "Sandpaper Kisses" has had a long afterlife — it appeared in the 2005 game Fahrenheit, was covered by Stephen Marley, and was sampled by The Weeknd on "The Birds (Pt. 2)." Craft reissued Quixotic in 2024 with a previously unreleased alternate mix of this song.

From the notes for Episode 02 · fact-checked Sep 23, 2026.