Tricky

Tricky (Adrian Thaws) grew up in Knowle West, Bristol, and left Massive Attack to make Maxinquaye (1995), the album that defined trip-hop and is named for his late mother, Maxine Quaye. Martina Topley-Bird, then a Clifton College schoolgirl, became his vocal foil after he found her sitting on a wall near his house singing to herself. 'Ponderosa', co-produced with Howie B, rides a drum loop lifted from the 1993 Bollywood film Khalnayak, a sample choice nobody else in Bristol was making. Maxinquaye reached number three in the UK, was named album of the year by NME, Melody Maker and The Wire, and was Mercury-shortlisted; Topley-Bird went on to earn her own Mercury nomination for Quixotic (2003) and to sing with Gorillaz and Massive Attack. Tricky announced his fifteenth studio album, Different When It's Silent, for July 2026 on his False Idols label; Topley-Bird's most recent album is Forever I Wait (2021).

From the notes for Episode 04 · fact-checked Sep 23, 2026.