In 1995 Tricky appeared alongside Goldie like one of those figures out of a Philip K. Dick novel: travellers who got lost in space only to return after years as dark messiahs whose intentions are never quiet clear. Tricky's debut, it almost goes without saying, is one of great albums of all-time and he even survived the instant classic debut jinx with both Pre-Millennium Tension and Nearly God. For awhile the world seemed possessed by Tricky: he was there with you as you walked the streets at night, he looked over your shoulder when the hydro-chronic made you paranoid, he made you dream of lost origins in languages you never knew.

After that golden year Goldie almost self-destructed on a high of pretension, finally reduced to acting the same petty gangster in East Enders and Snatch, Tricky meanwhile somehow got stuck after his third album, his long-time muse marihuana turning against him. And so after two mediocre albums and a new health regime Tricky returns with Blow Back which surprisingly is released by American punk label Epitath.

Things start off quite well with 'Excess', a tight, almost reassuringly familiar Tricky track. That will be the last good song you will hear for the next hour or so. What you find in between is one of the worst albums in recent memory, it is a document of somebody with amazing talent and alien vision losing the plot completely, giving up hope. It would be quite easy to dismiss Blow Back only through the choice of collaborators, an astonishing collection of has-beens (Cydie Lauper), soon-to-be-has-beens (Ed Kowalczyk from Live) and never-should-have-beens (Alanis Morissette), but these are just superficial warning signs that tell you that something is wrong. Getting into track 4 it is clear that some evil spirit has taken over our former superhero replacing him with a soulless demon. Tricky, once an androgynous alien fond of wearing dresses and make-up, jams with pathetic boneheads Red Hot Chilli Peppers, resulting in the laughable funk metal by numbers 'Girls'.