Different When It's Silent

Tricky’s first solo album since 2020’s Fall to Pieces is a reawakening. Pieces found the trip-hop legend deep in the throes of grief, mourning the loss of his daughter on record. The pain still lingers, but Tricky moves through it with a new sense of purpose on his 2026 effort, Different When It’s Silent. In the intervening years, he released a number of collaborative albums, including a few superlative efforts with his latest muse, Marta, but Different When It’s Silent marks his first solo foray back into the underbelly of his one-of-a-kind aesthetics. The album, which was made with Mitch Sanders, moves between spine-tingling alternative jams (“I’m Yours,”), electro-inspired dance-rock (“So Cold”), and straight-ahead grime on the Radana-assisted “Radana.” Tricky remains as omnivorous in his musical appetite as ever, proving himself to not only be a Jack of all trades, but also a master of every style he brings into this universe. Our Favorite Track: The lo-fi Elliott Smith styling of penultimate song “Hengrove Blues.”