The shadow cast by Tricky is a long one. But beyond the raspy, roach toke vocals, what does a Tricky tune look like? What shape does it take? It’s hard to say. You can point to the downtempo bass and murk, but that foundation leaves you with plenty of room to roam. His spirit can be felt in Dean Blunt and Inga Copeland, Tirzah and Coby Sey, Young Echo and Space Afrika. The list goes on.
More than one of these artists show up on All Our Knives Are Always Sharp, the latest album by the British Nigerian self taught musician Tony Njoku. Indeed, Tricky himself appears on the track ‘Depleted’, connecting the sonic dots, an extended school of slouched shapeshifters.
That diffuse lineage can be heard on the record, but the textural fog is punctured by a sense…