With Tricky, David Holmes, Bond man David Arnold and Queens Of The Stone Age’s Mark Lanegan lining up to hail Topley Bird’s coming-out party, the lady’s credentials aren’t in doubt. The mystery gal of trip hop acquits herself admirably, summoning the damaged frazzle of Macy Gray on “Lying” and rejoicing in the flighty funk and sizzling strings of the Holmes-directed “Too Tough To Die”.
Impressive, but she may have been better served with an album that concentrated her talents. An overload of genre hopping and exotic finery swamps whatever attracted all the heavyweight talent to her in the first place.
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