Tricky – False Idols

In many ways a return to the dynamics of his first (and best) album Maxinquaye, False Idols pairs Tricky's distinctive, half-whispered vocals with the mellifluous singing of Francesca Belmonte. Although his 90s output exerts a powerful influence, rehabilitating the trip-hop sound, there is a polished sheen and confident structure on show that indicate an artist back at the top of his game.

Still happy to cherry-pick choruses (Van Morrison and Patti Smith are referenced on Somebody's Sins; Valentine is constructed around a down-pitched sample of Funny Valentine), Tricky makes them his own. The weed-laced paranoia of his lyrics is sharpened, used with scalpel-like precision to examine social issues and relationship dynamics.

Melodic pop hooks underpin every track – there is not a single moment of the difficult experimentalism or brag-rap posturing that marred more recent albums. Mr Thaws was always king of the Bristol sound; False Idols sees him reclaim the throne. [Bram E. Gieben]