30 years ago today: Tricky released his iconic debut album Maxinquaye

Tricky has always been ahead of his time. The Bristolian first caught the public’s attention as a guest vocalist on Massive Attack’s classic 1991 debut Blue Lines, and their equally acclaimed follow-up Protection. Swiftly signed solo to Island, his ground-breaking 1995 debut Maxinquaye – a darkly obsessive and unsettling fusion of soulfully skewed beats, dirty guitars, sinister soundscapes and paranoiac rap – completely revolutionised modern music and played a major role in defining a whole new genre: trip-hop.

Tricky:

In conversation with Hot Press in 2012

It was a legal requirement when reviewing Maxinquaye in the ‘90s to use the word “paranoia” at least once. Was the vibe in the studio really that heavy?

“You’ve got to understand that I’m a street boy. There’s always going to be a degree of paranoia when you grow up in council flats. It’s normal in Knowle West to be wary of people, especially if they come from outside your community. If you’re not known, you’re not trusted, simple as.”

Producer Mark Saunders, who also has David Bowie, The Cure and A-ha on his CV, describes Maxinquaye as “chaotic” and “the most bizarre record I’ve ever worked on. It was a complete un-learning experience. Think of how to make a record, then forget everything you’ve learned and start completely backwards and upside down.” Fair comment?

“Chaotic? Only in his mind! He told me, for instance, that ‘Strugglin’’ was musically impossible but I said, ‘If I can hear it in my head, it is possible.’ We argued for five or six hours until I got what I wanted. I don’t think it was hectic though, no. I’m not a party guy in the studio. I don’t take in 20 people, drinking and listening to my album over and over again. I can’t socialise and make music.”

Martina Topley-Bird:

In conversation with Hot Press in 2003

“What happened with Maxinquaye, in particular, is that he’d be working on a track and I’d get wheeled in to do the vocal. There was no preparation – he handed me the lyrics and we’d see what we could come up with on the day. Sometimes it’d be first take and sometimes it’d be, ‘Urrrrgh, we’re going to have to rethink that!’

“It was a bit like school – having to be there every day and doing pretty much what you were told. If I contrast it to what I’m doing now, it wasn’t really that demanding. I’ve taken responsibility for a different way of working, which can be scary but mostly I love.”

Revisit Maxinquaye below: