Print-friendly Version

Return to the full version

Tricky returns after five-year layoff with tour, album

Producer/singer/rapper Tricky returns to the road this fall to promote his first new studio album in five years, "Knowle West Boy."

The British performer--born Adrian Thaws--will hit eight North American cities in September, kicking off Sept. 4 in New York City.

Named after the London-area ghetto where Tricky was raised, "Knowle West Boy" is the performer's first album since 2003's "Vulnerable." The new set hit stores last month, but originally was planned for an earlier release, according to Tricky.

"I was working with [ex-Suede guitarist] Bernard Butler," he recently told UK culture mag The Skinny. "I was, like, 'Right, this is the first time I'm going to let someone co-produce,' but the guy's s---, he's got no clue! So I just took it home and re-did it all, protected some of my songs."

A preview of the entire set is streaming at the album's promotional

"It's kind of like 'Spinal Tap' and 'The Office' but not funny," he told the Scottish magazine. "Well, not as funny. You don't know what you're watching; whether it's a movie, a documentary, and it's just about me trying to set up a label; what I'm willing to do to make it happen, what artists are willing to do to get their music out, just struggling."