ricky’s new album, Mixed Race, is a nod to his unique perspective — both in his personal life and his musical influences.  Having long-established his place at the forefront of his genre, this album is a reminder to everyone of his lingering association with roots-based music. It’s a real mixed bag of collaborations and features tracks with among others Marlon Thaws, his brother and Bobbie Gillespie of Primal Scream.

Tricky says of Mixed Race: “this is the closest I can get to a gangsta album. It’s very gully, as Jamaicans call it — very dark. Tense, street and urban. It’s like a movie, almost.” There is a dark, violent undertone, or at least the threat of it, throughout but the music is more thematic and cinematic than any throw away dance music. The sparing use of Tricky’s own voice in the album shows maturity and his desire to really highlight a sort of musical show-and-tell of his upbringing by bringing the skills of others into the mix.