Tricky-Skilled Mechanics (2016)

Tricky-Skilled Mechanics (2016)

By: Erreh Svaia

And so as we know, hard times are a major call for hard music to appear, and this magician coming from London is not exactly Harry Potter, but a man capable of conjuring the power of hip hop, post punk and electronica all rolled into a wild ride worth Werner Herzog's dark and maniacal world of New Orleans underwater depicted on Bad Lieutenant, some might call it trip hop, but what really Tricky is all about is something he named Brown Punk, and this piece of Brown Punk here titled Skilled Mechanics is an adequate answer to the dark times we are submerged in right now, with the United Kingdom, a prominent player in Europe's future, from Corbyn becoming an embarrassment for the Laborist Party to Scotland excision desires.

The record starts with the subtle and soulful I'm Not Going, which gloriously evocates classic Tricky sound,  with obscure arrangements, tight instrumentation and noir female vocal, next bringing hip hop in the killer Hero a song that clearly depicts the direction of this new record, Tricky resisting his hip hop memories collecting sounds and reinventing them in way to create a bizarre dimension in which the past, the present and the future all meet together in parallel fashion, featuring amazing keyboards brought right from the glowing 80s, Don't Go is again a powerful showing from Tricky, a prove of his mastery at creating dark atmosphere and intriguing sounds, Tricky adding incredible touches of ambient music that would make Brian Eno proud, that right before the Earth shattering Beijing to Berlin, a clear sign that this Skilled Mechanics is the result of not only Tricky rediscovering his hip hop roots but embracing a global attitude and assimilating whatever the world put on his path at Earth's shattering volume.

Darkness is again one of Tricky's favorite weapon, unleashing it during the menacing Boy, a definite continuation of his biographical songs about life in tough Knowle West, Bristol, featuring dissonant synth blasts taking us into an underworld full of neon lights, evil characters and brutal storytelling as if coming out of Frank Miller's mind.

Skilled Mechanics although not as intense as some of his previous recordings, is a welcomed experimental jump into hip hop which allows Tricky to dig deeper into his past, and come back with a great ambitious recording that brings back a sound and a fury, many of us though forgotten, and although it doesn't seem probable that The Bug could collaborate with Tricky in a more hardcore hip hop record, this time Tricky has allowed himself more to come out to the streets and leave his reclusive reputation behind, this time he is more out there than ever.