Artwork Of The Month: Tricky - False Idols

The king of trip-hop steadily rises from the ashes on the cover of his newest release. An image that comes to mind is molten lava hardening into rock: hot and transformative as it clarifies itself into a cooling, reborn element. Like many of his previous albums, a mysterious image of the artist is featured, but unlike others (can we just forget Knowle West Boy?), the typography on this one steps back and lets Tricky have a moment to re-materialize, to get back to just being.

The title False Idols puts an eloquent frame around the self-portrait; an interesting choice, especially in the context of remembering his past release, Nearly God. The layers of visual understatement epitomize the sound of this release, which gets back to those dubby, trippy bassline roots rolling through dormant volcano soundscapes. A grittiness can still be heard behind the dark, dreamy vocals, and inspires the defining detail on the cover as well: the obvious presence of dust left to float freely across his image. It's no secret that revealing less creates more intrigue. This cover does just that, with the spare visual elements placed effortlessly: calm, cool, and centered - all the while inviting a hand to swipe away the dust and rediscover the pure, elemental trip-hop inside. It doesn't need to be anything else. It's Tricky.