music :: reviews :: electronica

by Jason Newman

Martina Topley-Bird
Anything
Palm

I couldn't have been the only one who hated Tricky's voice but still bought Maxinquaye and Pre-Millenium Tension. It was partly the beats. Partly the instrumentation. But mostly, it was the gorgeous voice of Martina topley-Bird, the female counterpart to Tricky Kid. After leaving the spotlight for a while, she returns with her first solo album which will easily become one of the best of the year. While Tricky shows up on two tracks, Anything is far from a rehash of Tricky's golden era. Abrasive sounds are supplied by Queens of the Stone Age members Josh Homme and Mark Lanegan (“Need One”) and David Holmes (“Too Tough to Die”), but it's Topley-Bird's ethereal, grandiose and ridiculously sexy voice that give every track a warm, otherworldly quality. Music this beautiful, coupled with lyrics that speak of desire and lust, cause babies to pop out nine months after listening.