The Blue God

Considering the spectacular way Martina Topley Bird introduced herself, it’s really little wonder that her form over recent times has dipped. In the 14 (yikes!) years since its release, Tricky’s Maxinquaye has aged miraculously well. So much so, that not only does it still sound like the finest British soul album ever recorded, it also stakes a claim as a serious challenger to OK Computer’s default status as the great record ofthe ’90s.
And much of that is down to the haunting, ethereal presence of Topley Bird.
Listen to the standard set by ‘Overcome’ and ‘Ponderosa’; allow yourself to be swept up by the spooky to & fro psychodrama operating between her and (the father of her child) Tricky – and then ask yourself: how can anyone expect to maintain that kind of pace?
Her first solo record, 2004’s Quixotic earned a Mercury nomination. And her choice of collaborators – David Holmes, Josh Homme, Mark Lanegan, David Arnold, and Tricky himself – certainly showed how highly she was rated. But, really, one LP is a poor return for a decade’s worth of work.
Now, it seems, she’s keen to put that right.
The Blue God comes at us determined to make up for lost time. Unlike her introspective debut, it has a zippy, light-on-its-feet feel entirely in keeping with the current commercial mood (‘Baby Blue’ and ‘Something To Say’ are rollickingly fine post-Amy pop tunes), but no matter how crystal clear and feather light Topley Bird’s delivery can seem, her voice has a dark, catatonic quality entirely of its own, and it is that which lifts her free from any easy comparison. Producer Dangermouse exploits this tension for all its worth – take the woozy waltz, ‘Snowman’, or the single ‘Carnies’ – they’re songs written for fairytales: equally at home in a nightmare or a dream sequence.
Some day, Martina Topley Bird will record an album that will flatten houses. The Blue God isn’t it. But, simply by allowing us to bask in the glow of one of modern music’s greatest – and most underused – voices, it’s still nearly essential.

Key Track: ‘Baby Blue’