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''Vulnerable'' is the seventh album by Tricky, released in 2003. - Wikipedia

Good news first: no Ed Kowalczyk! And now the bad news: he's stillinto industrial-cum-rap-metal guitar. The latter jams its way into too much Vulnerable'ssecond half; otherwise, the album sounds like Tricky's clearest, most awake workin years. Or is that actually a compliment? After all, nobody listens to Maxinquayefor clarity. We hear it as an uncanny mirror of a fogged, confused psyche in whichpleasure is shadowed with doubt and worry at every turn. By contrast, most ofwhat Tricky's done since then sounds primarily worried about whether it's relevant,hip, or will move units—quite a fall for a guy who seemed not so long ago likesome kind of visionary genius. He lost his sense of the uncanny a long time ago,as Angels With Dirty Faces, Juxtapose, and Blowback all evidence.

What Trickyhas become instead is a craftsman, his albums variations on his usual theme. Thesingle difference between Vulnerable and his last three albums is that he's loosenedup enough that it feels like he's applying himself to his new style instead ofbeing held hostage by it. Not that any of the tunes bar the single "Anti-Matter"are as memorable as the album's two covers. Both XTC's "Dear God" and the Cure's"Love Cats" get slink 'n' trawl treatments, Tricky and new chanteuse CostanzaFrancavilla mumbling fetchingly over slow beats and atmospheric whatevers. Francavillaalso happens to sound a lot like Martina Topley-Bird, the woe-voiced singer whodominated Tricky's early albums. That's a good thing.