Billed by the artist as a return to Maxinquaye’s sound, Ununiform, the 13th Tricky album, released today, marks a departure in the form of a return. After nearly 20 years, Topley-Bird is gracing Tricky’s instrumentals once more: “When We Die” approximates the dreamy, luxuriant urgency of their original collaborations to great effect. Still, it’s only one song, and its placement as the album closer feels more like a last embrace than a renewed relation. Topley-Bird’s the best-known of the grab bag of featured artists typical of Tricky albums since her disappearance. A bevy of other, expensively named women (Francesca Belmonte, Italian actress Asia Argento, Mina Rose, Terra Lopez, Avalon Lurks) plus a pair of Russian-language rappers named Scriptonite and Smoky Mo comprise the rest of the ensemble of collaborators. The sound is likewise much diversified compared to Tricky’s earlier albums, sliding easily from pensive tracks centered on acoustic guitar (“The Only Way,” “Doll,” “Running Wild”) to serrated dance (“Dark Days,” “Armor,” “Same As It Ever Was,” “Bang Boogie”) to songs best described as lurkers (“It’s Your Day,” “Blood of My Blood”) to brooding futurist soul (“Wait for Signal,” “When We Die”). This isn’t really a new feature — Maxinquaye had its fair share of left turns too. As the title implies, Ununiform isn’t meant to be even. If it marks a resumption of Tricky’s oldest tendencies, it’s also a continuation of his more recent forays into dissonance and melody.
| A1 | Obia Intro |
| A2 | Same As It Ever Was |
| A3 | New Stole |
| A4 | Wait For Signal |
| A5 | It's Your Day |
| A6 | Blood Of My Blood |
| A7 | Dark Days |
| B1 | The Only Way |
| B2 | Armor |
| B3 | Doll |
| B4 | Bang Boogie |
| B5 | Running Wild |
| B6 | When We Die |
