Martina Topley-Bird - Anything

In the dark world of the underground sound of soul, there is only one Martina. A woman whose name suggests calm and pure emotion, as well as evoking another name in itself: Tricky. Shortly after the confined UK release of this angel’s first attempted solo album Quixotic, Martina Topley-Bird has revamped some things and is prepared to shine on the world’s stage as a post-Tricky solo artist. The internationally released debut album Anything is actually everything anyone could expect from this amazing vocalist and artist.

To the thrill of the industry and fans alike, Anything is filled with the production stylings of Tricky’s best experimental works (although the production credits are varied), as well as Martina’s own brilliant songwriting and introspective lyrics.

Let’s listen though each track now so that I might give you some insight into what I hear in this work.

The title track for Anything is a deeply intimate introduction for the album and features an extremely stripped and bare arrangement between Martina and acoustic guitar.The drums for most of the album are brushes, very light and intelligent, and set extremely far back in the mix.

This gives the instrumentation a chance to shine in contradiction to the normal drum-fueled pop arrangements found collectively in our norm of music. As Martina sings "I don’t need anything but you", there is a gentle sweeping of sound that fuels the emotion of the composition; A simply wonderful foreword for the compilation as a whole.

As RAGGA begins, we hear the growling vocals of Tricky himself. Martina comes in as the duet continues over an extremely intelligent acoustic jungle arrangement. Her words blur together and slide off her tongue as if they were honey. Her sly and sexy vocal arrangement nearly blends with the percussion in a most unique way. The track is not only brilliant, but one might call it uncanny.

Every artist’s record has a rock song on it, whether they are rock artists or not. NEED ONE is Anything’s rock anthem. Arranged with the usual guitars, bass, drums, keyboards, and electronica smartness, Need One brings its head-nodding pop-catchiness to the table for all to indulge.

SOUL FOOD is just that. Shining with radiant live instrumentation, this song showcases Martina’s soul-fueled essence.

Although the string and brass arrangements are delightful, and the Southern Baptist Church Choir backup vocals are heavenly, once again it is Martina that drives even further than the music can hold her.

ILYA has that "Tricky / Nearly God" feel to it, very dark, and brings the listener back down to the underground from whence the artist came. The weeping string arrangements that accompany the distorted experimental clicks and bubbles create a groove difficult to deny.

"I am too tough to die" is the reverb’d-out spaghetti western cinema sample that opens the track TOO TOUGH TO DIE. The sweeping melodies that inhabit I STILL FEEL are also hard to deny. Martina’s knowledge of standard songwriting technique is insightful and can be found hidden around this track, as well throughout the entire album. The listener is made to feel the "high" of this song as the angel sings about life and the immediate.

SANDPAPER KISSES is another dark and lovely treasure to be discovered herein. The arrangement is as simply beautiful as the subtle and genius melody Martina has set. This track will most certainly become a favorite among the critics and fans alike.

The arrangement is accompanied by a twangy lo-fi electric guitar and $10-dollar keyboard/organ performance - another luminous production technique by the crew. You can almost envision Martina holding up her fist as she sings this reaffirmation of her state as a strong black woman and as an artist.

A creaking rocking chair can be heard in the background, gently swaying to the Cole Porter styled melody and gentle strumming of the acoustic guitar found in LULLABY. This track is by far the most beautiful and well-written song on the entire album. Martina’s voice is entrancing and the lyrics give insight into the exquisiteness and splendor of the artist herself.

OUTRO is a simple and swinging spiritual recorded at Martina’s flat - what wonderful way to end the album.

The album as a whole features production and contributions from Tricky, David Holmes, Queens of the Stone Age, David Arnold, and Martina’s brother Nick Bird. The Trickyish production stylings on many of the tracks may have been a safe bet for the newly freed solo artist, but I rather believe that the post-rock style found within is actually embedded in the Art and Soul of Martina herself.

Bravo Martina, Bravo.