Martina Topley-Bird is a vocalist and songwriter from Shepherd’s Bush, West London. She first gains recognition as the female voice on Tricky’s debut album Maxinquaye, where a printing error credits her as “Martine”. She continues working with Tricky on Pre-Millennium Tension and on his side project Nearly God. She also has a child, Maisie, with Adrian Thaws.

Solo work

After a break in her professional and personal relationship with Tricky, she begins a solo career in 1998. Her debut solo album, Quixotic, appears on Independiente Records in 2003. Tricky contributes as producer and guest vocalist on the track “Ragga”. The album receives strong critical attention and is a finalist for the 2003 Mercury Music Prize. In the UK, the singles “Need One”, “Anything”, “I Still Feel” and “Soul Food” are released. “Lullaby” is used in Brazil in a campaign for the juice powder Clight, and “Sandpaper Kisses” appears on the soundtrack to the video game Fahrenheit, known in the United States as Indigo Prophecy.

A US version of the album is later issued by Palme Pictures under the title Anything, with a revised sequence, a shorter tracklist and new cover art. Her second studio album, The Blue God, follows in 2008, and her third album, Some Place Simple, is released in 2010.

Collaborations

Alongside her solo recordings, Topley-Bird appears on several collaborations and guest tracks. In 2004 she features on Diplo’s track “Into the Sun” from the album Florida. In 2005 she appears with Roots Manuva on Gorillaz’s “All Alone” from Demon Days. She also works with Massive Attack on the 2010 album Heligoland, appears on the Splitting the Atom EP on “Psyche (Flash Treatment)”, and later collaborates with Mark Lanegan and Warpaint in 2013.