Martina Topley-Bird

Artist

Martina Topley-Bird

trip-hop female vocalists downtempo electronic indie

15,887 followers

Martina Topley-Bird is a vocalist and songwriter from Shepherd's Bush, West London, United Kingdom, who first gained fame as the female vocalist on trip-hop pioneer Tricky's (Adrian Thaws) debut album, Maxinquaye, (a printing error credited her as "Martine") in 1993. She continued her collaboration with Tricky on his follow-up album Pre-Millennium Tension as well as his Nearly God side-project. Topley-Bird had a child, Maisie, with Thaws. In 1998, following a falling-out of her professional and personal relationship with Tricky, Topley-Bird began pursuing a solo career; however, it was not until 2003 that she released her debut solo album, Quixotic, on Independiente Records. (Tricky appears on one track, Ragga, as producer and guest vocalist.) Upon its release, Quixotic received rave reviews from critics, and was a finalist for the 2003 Mercury Music Prize. Need One, Anything, I Still Feel and Soul Food were released as singles in the UK. In Brazil, the song Lullaby was used in the campaign for the juice powder Clight. The song Sandpaper Kisses is featured on the soundtrack of the video game Fahrenheit (known as Indigo Prophecy in the United States). The album finally saw a release, of sorts, in the United States in July 2004 when the Palme Pictures label released a "re-designed and re-sequenced" version with a new title (Anything), a trimmed-down tracklisting and all-new cover art. In 2004, Martina appeared on Into the Sun, a track from Diplo's album Florida. A year later, she made a guest appearance (alongside Roots Manuva) on the Gorillaz track All Alone, on the album Demon Days. Martina released her second studio album, The Blue God, in May 2008, followed by a collaborative project with Massive Attack, the album "Heligoland" which was released in 2010. She also appeared on the Splitting the Atom EP featured on the track Psyche (Flash Treatment) (released October 2009). In 2010, she released her third album, Some Place Simple, followed by a collaboration with Mark Lanegan and Warpaint in 2013. . User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

Popular

Crystalised

Crystalised

3:51

Hell Is Round The Corner

Maxinquaye

3:47

Overcome

Maxinquaye

4:30

Aftermath

Maxinquaye

7:38

Ponderosa

Maxinquaye

3:30

Black Steel

Maxinquaye

5:40

Brand New You're Retro

Maxinquaye

2:54

You Don't

Maxinquaye

4:39

Makes Me Wanna Die

Pre Millennium Tension

4:01

Suffocated Love

Maxinquaye

4:53

Tricky Kid

Pre Millennium Tension

4:10

Albums

Quixotic (Expanded Edition)
Quixotic (Expanded Edition)

Quixotic (Expanded Edition)

2024

Crystalised (feat. Mark Lanegan & Warpaint)
Crystalised (feat. Mark Lanegan & Warpaint)

Crystalised (feat. Mark Lanegan & Warpaint)

2023

gaame (Mezey Mix)
gaame (Mezey Mix)

gaame (Mezey Mix)

2023

Some Place Simple
Some Place Simple

Some Place Simple

2022

Forever I Wait
Forever I Wait

Forever I Wait

2021

Pure Heart
Pure Heart

Pure Heart

2021

Pure Heart
Pure Heart

Pure Heart

2021

Wanted
Wanted

Wanted

2021

Weasel
Weasel

Weasel

2021

The Blue God
The Blue God

The Blue God

2008

Quixotic
Quixotic

Quixotic

2003

Pre Millennium Tension
Pre Millennium Tension

Pre Millennium Tension

1996

Maxinquaye
Maxinquaye

Maxinquaye

1995

Crystalised

Crystalised

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