Following two solo albums on his own False Idols imprint, Tricky announces a
new collaborative project. Skilled Mechanics is a loose collective with rotating
membership
that allows Tricky to work with a variety of different artists, while at the
same time pushing his unique vocal talents to the forefront. The most prominent
of these collaborators on the new record is DJ Milo, who is not only one of his
oldest friends but also the first person he ever recorded with, not to mention
his introduction to The Wild Bunch.
One of the most enigmatic voices on the forthcoming project belongs to the
Chinese rapper and producer Ivy艾 菲. Tricky explains: “I was in Beijing
for a show and I met this guy who managed her. He told me that she wanted to
work with me so I asked for her to send a vocal track with some drums to me so
I could do my thing to it. She's so different! So raw! The strange thing is,
I've had the track for a while but I only just found out that she’s not
rapping in Chinese. I ain’t got a clue what language it is. I have no idea.
It might be completely made up but whatever it is, it sounds wicked. I’m lucky
that with my label, False Idols, I
don’t need to worry about things like this. I'm never going to have an A&R
guy saying to me, ‘We don’t understand what she’s saying.’ Because we
don’t need the support of commercial radio. It was my real good luck meeting
her and she's definitely going to be on the next Skilled Mechanics album
as well.”