VIA PRESS RELEASE | Craft Recordings and Independiente are proud to announce an expanded vinyl reissue for Martina Topley-Bird’s 2003 critically acclaimed and Mercury Award-nominated debut album Quixotic. Available for pre-order today, and due out September 6th, the expanded 2-LP edition housed in a gatefold sleeve features the original album and three B-sides, plus an unreleased alternate mix of the album’s lead single “Sandpaper Kisses.” It will also be made available digitally.
Martina Topley-Bird, the revered singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist gained immediate attention as the voice of Maxinquaye, on Tricky’s groundbreaking 1995 debut album. The album is still considered to be one of the most innovative and influential albums in modern music, and her breathtaking and instantly recognizable vocals positioned her as the voice of trip-hop. Topley-Bird went on to work on another three Tricky albums, before launching a solo career in 2003, releasing Quixotic via Independiente to critical acclaim.
Admired for her ability to deliver an album with such a wide range of musical styles, yet retain her unique vocal style, Mojo called Quixotic “[a] sensual, endlessly inventive record”; while Q magazine praised the album’s “…classy, laid-back” and “beyond human” experience. Pitchfork applauded the vocal performance: “Topley-Bird’s voice continues to be a strange and beautiful thing.”
The album features production and accompaniment from several luminaries including Mark Lanegan (vocals) and founding member of Queens of the Stone Age, Josh Homme (guitar). David Holmes produced “Too Tough to Die,” which was also covered by both Neneh Cherry and The Twilight Singers.
Tricky collaborated on “Sandpaper Kisses” and “Ragga’.” David Arnold, famed composer of five James Bond soundtracks, arranged strings on “Soulfood” and “Stevie’s (Days of a Gun)” (the latter retitled “Aaron’s (In the Daze of a Gun)” for this 2024 reissue). “Sandpaper Kisses” has been featured by The Weeknd on his song “The Birds pt. 2” and by Stephen Marley on his song “You’re Gonna Leave.”
Topley-Bird went on to release further solo albums—Anything (2004), The Blue God (2008), Some Place Simple (2010) and Forever I Wait (2021)) and collaborate with Massive Attack, Gorillaz, Common, Diplo and The Prodigy.
