Vulnerable

This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.
Personnel: Tricky (vocals, keyboards, bass, drums); Costanza (vocals, guitar); Liz Constantine (vocals); Mario Munoz, Mark Thwaite (guitar);
Gareth Bowen (keyboards); Steve Loria, Wayne Nunes (bass); Perry Melius (drums, background vocals); Dave Whitman (programming); Mike Black (background vocals).
After a number of collaborative, guest-star-studded albums, Tricky has finally gone back to the basics with VUNERABLE. Replacing his former muse Martina Topley Bird is Constanza, whose breathy voice sounds remarkably like both her precursor and ex-Golden Palomino Lori Carson. An album in the mold of his acclaimed debut MAXINQUAYE, this outing features rock-tinged trip-hop with Constanza's airy singing often doubled by Tricky's spoken-word accompaniment. In the resulting sea of submerged beats, chilled-out covers of XTC's "Dear God" and the Cure's "The Love Cats" surface, blending well with tracks such as "Stay," "Antimatter," and "Wait for God." Tricky also cuts loose on a handful of guitar-heavy tracks, including "How High," "Moody," and "Where I'm From." Although the apocalyptic tones of his first few releases are largely absent, VUNERABLE shows that Tricky still has an edge, and continues to deftly span the genres of pop, hip-hop, electronica, and rock.