About

Knowle West Boy is the album that sums up everything that Tricky has accomplished since his 1995 Maxinquaye debut. From the sardonic bar-room blues of "Puppy Toy" to the haunting quasi-classicism of "Joseph"; from the twisted Specials-worshipping punk of "Council Estate" to the bereft torchery of "Past Mistake"; from the Roxy Music’s The Bogus Man-at-the-dancehall art-stomp of "Bacative" to the poignant autobiographical tale of teen pregnancy that is "School Gates". Knowle West Boy sees our misunderstood hero reaching into the post-punk, Two-Tone, reggae, hip hop and pure pop he grew up adoring, twisting it all into surreal Tricky shapes using his astonishingly accomplished band and a host of great undiscovered singers. The result, the most varied and accessible set of his career. When things get too dark he brings it back to the light with the ebullient pop-rock of "C’mon Baby". When things get too relaxed he taunts the world for its cruelty and apathy with the Middle-Eastern hip hop textures of "Coalition".

Underpinning it all is a theme of rediscovery… the American exile rediscovering his love of dear old Blighty; the veteran rediscovering the joy of making music; the experienced player rediscovering the struggle of being Knowle West’s very own Tricky Kid, the weird but defiant teen outsider who knew that with enough lust for life you could become a superstar. Knowle West Boy tells you everything you always wanted to know about Tricky, over music that still sounds like no-one else on earth.

Knowle West Boy was recorded in London and LA and mixed by Switch. – Press Release

“Past Mistake and School Gates honour the misty ghosts and honest lyrics of his 1995 breakthrough album, Maxinquaye, without slipping into reverence. Bacative and Baligaga add hymnal colour to muscular reggae and rap. Even Tricky's love of dodgy rock doesn't spoil things: Council Estate's rolling drums and an angsty cover of Kylie Minogue's Slow both bristle with an urgency that runs throughout the record like a pumping vein, presenting us with a man who feels vital again.” – The Guardian

“Knowle West Boy is the sound of Tricky reengaging with the sound of hardscrabble, grasping poverty, and as such it makes more than a passing reference to fellow working-class superstars like the Streets and, surprisingly, the Arctic Monkeys. (You can hear the latter on the first single, the uncharacteristically uptempo “Council Estate”.) In the years since Maxinquaye British hip-hop has come into its own, and while it would be pressing matters to say that Tricky seems particularly interested in grime, it can also be said with some justification that Tricky had as much to do with creating the inspiration for grime as anyone else. He’s in its DNA, so if you hear any Dizzee Rascal on this disc, that’s why. Better to say that there’s not a British MC alive today with the possible exception of Roots Manuva who doesn’t owe a debt to Tricky.” – Popmatters

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