Bird is the word

Magic voice, amazing songs and a name that sounds like a Sesame Street character? How could anyone fail to fall in love with Martina Topley Bird? Tricky certainly did in 1993 when he co-opted the then 18-year-old student onto his Maxinquaye album and then into his bed.

The ensuing relationship is best described as “volatile” with the two having a baby girl, Maisie, and then breaking up very publicly amidst allegation and counter allegation.

Tricky appeared to put a full-stop on their relationship – personal and artistic – in 1998 when he told Big Issue: “Everything I do, I’m the bad guy. This showed me that as long as I’m doing music with Martina I’m going to be a bad father, a prick. She gets all the credibility but, if the album’s bad, they won’t say anything about her, it’s all going to be about me.”

It’s something of a surprise then to find that two of the stand-outs from Topley Bird’s debut solo album, Quixotic, are written and produced by her former amour.

“I thought having him on the record would probably sidestep that line of inquiry,” she says without any trace of rancour. “Obviously things are cool because here he is. There can be an egotistical slant on making your own thing – y’know, all me and nobody else – but he’s still part of my character and my history.”

Unlike the old days, though, it was Topley Bird who had the final say in the studio.

“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,” she explains. “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.”

Among her other attributes, the 28-year-old boasts an address book that includes Queens Of The Stone Age man Josh Homme.

“We’ve a few friends in common and have talked on and off for years about doing something,” she resumes. “He was over here and up for it in January, so I nabbed him before he changed his mind. Everyone assumes he’s a bonkers madman – which perhaps he is when he’s with the Queens – but I found him to be smart, funny and extremely receptive to what I was doing. There’s a sort of a link between us in that our influences are very varied and not always what you imagine.”

For all of the “new Billie Holiday” comparisons that Quixotic has drawn, Topley Bird had an orthodox rock ‘n’ roll upbringing with Fishbone, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jane’s Addiction among her adolescent favourites. Things got interesting when in her later teenage years she developed a hankering for Tom Waits and Toots & The Maytals.

“I was on Jools Holland with Billy Corgan, Ibrahim Ferrer, Radiohead, Marcia Griffith and Miranda Richardson the ac-tor and couldn’t work out who was my favourite,” she enthuses. “There’s no point in being eclectic for the sake of it but, at the same, sticking to one type of music is so boring and unambitious. The Billie Holiday comparisons are flattering, but I’d hate to think I wasn’t bringing anything new to the party.”

It’s a philosophy that’s shared by another of Quixotic’s co-producers, David Holmes.

“I’ve got to be honest and admit that I hadn’t heard of him until my record company, Independiente, hooked us up,” she reveals. “David sent me a track from his Bow Down To The Exit Sign album which was the first post-Tricky thing I was offered that I thought I could do something with. He’s as close as you’re going to get to the perfect producer in that he’s loads of energy, a positive outlook and loves music. There’s no chin scratching either – everything works fast. He’s always throwing little challenges your way, which is what you want when you’re making your first solo record.”

It’ll probably lead to her being expelled from the Union of Whinging Rock Stars, but Topley Bird also has warm words of praise for Independiente.

“They were the only company who said, ‘Do what you want. We’ll guide you in some aspects but, otherwise, it’s down to you. We don’t want you to get your hair done or wear any particular sort of clothes. We don’t want you to be the new Macy Gray or Dido. You’re absolutely fine as you are.’ The support’s there if I want it, but it’s them taking the lead from me.”

With David Arnold completing the production team, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Quixotic is a tech-heavy affair that couldn’t possibly exist outside of the studio.

“You hum along to songs not production,” she points out. “There were ten in the band when we did Later With Jools Holland, but we can do it justice with four. Given my responsibilities, I’m not going to tour for more than three weeks or four maybe if Maisie can come with me for part of it. Any longer than that and you start losing touch with reality.”

Is going on the road a necessary evil or something that Martina actively enjoys?

“I did five tours of America, Australia and loads of stuff in Europe with Tricky. Sometimes I really enjoyed it, sometimes it was a complete grind. The best nights were the ones I came off stage knowing that I’d sung better than on the records. I also enjoyed the shows where I was actually at home but the reviews said, ‘Martina Topley Bird was great!’

“The most fun,” she continues, “was in 1996 when I sung on a month-long Porno For Pyros tour. I didn’t have any responsibilities other than going on stage every night with Perry Farrell who’s a huge hero of mine. I was a bit worried in case he turned out to be a wanker but, no, he was lovely.”

If you were negligent enough to miss the 9 out of 10 review Adrienne Murphy gave it in the last issue of Hot Press, let me tell you that Quixotic is an almost blemish-free collection of songs that takes classic influences (Holiday, Eartha Kitt, Dietrich and Nina Simone) and melds them into something breathtakingly new.

“I figured there are enough English people trying to sound American,” she reasons in her Somerset via-the Home Counties drawl. “I’m too pig-headed to be anyone other than myself.”