ALBUM REVIEW: Martina Topley Bird
- Posted on November 19, 2007 2:12 PM
- 0 comments
The Blue God
Martina Topley Bird - Trippy Stuff
Review by Naima Khan
In my world of delusion I am the queen of multitasking so of course I’m perfectly capable of jotting down creative and precise review notes at the same time as researching an assignment. I’m relieved to find that Martina Topley Bird's album does not require one’s full attention. She has a distinctly spooky sound, and an eerily attractive voice. Morcheeba meets Kosheen; this is a great album to study by. Not particularly attention grabbing, Topley Bird has the essence of a sexy lounge singer’s voice and the style of the white stripes on an off-day. She is truly smooth without lacking edge. Martina would surely get a salute from Gold Frapp for cleverly tapping into a down tempo dance rhythm and psychedelic rock, veins previously mined by Moloko and Portishead.
Without sounding too emotionally drained this talented British vocalist manages to gently entertain. Her trip-hop collaboration with Adrian Thaws aka Tricky has clearly done a lot for her sound. It’s layered, dark, slightly bizarre and if you really listen up, can be very trippy. Her lilting voice over some peculiar beats that Bjork would be proud of (see track 12) makes this collection of tracks unique and certainly worth a listen. The down side is the songs easily melt into each other. Tracks three and nine are the only distinctive ones and for all the wrong reasons I’m afraid. These are the only times I look up from my books; her so far subtle lyrics become cringe worthy and annoyingly repetitive. Mostly melodic she can border on boring but that’s no reason she won’t be hugely successful (Hi Radiohead- How are ya?). Once The Blue God grows on you, it will have you addicted; I now study to nothing else.
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