Massive Attack recruit Martina

Guy Garvey spills the beans on trip-hop duo's team up with Tricky singer

13 July 2009 - Martina Topley-Bird is set to work with fellow Bristolians Massive Attack on their new album.

The singer, who has previously worked with Tricky, is to sing on a track Robert Del Naja and Elbow frontman Guy Garvey have written together.

"One of them that is sounding really great at the moment is a tune called Red Light which Rob and I have been working on for about a year and a half and Martina Topley-Bird is giving voice to my lyrics," Garvey revealed on his Finest Hour show.

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"It's a bit of a dream come true to have Martina singing my words on a Massive Attack song."

Garvey said the pair have written five or six songs so far for their first studio album in six years.

Topley-Bird joins a host of stars who have worked with the trip hop duo on their previous albums including Sinead O'Connor, Horace Andy, Tricky, Tracey Thorn, Shara Nelson, Elizabeth Fraser and Damon Albarn.

"It's a dream come true to have Martina singing my words on a Massive Attack song." Guy Garvey, Elbow

Garvey also revealed that his own band were influenced by the duo's sound during their early days.

"The whole trip-hop Bristol scene was very much part of Elbow’s make-up," he added.

"It really shaped us and nudged us forward a little bit. It's definitely part of our sound."

Topley-Bird featured on Tricky's 1995 debut album Maxinquaye, Nearly God, Pre-Millennium Tension and Angels With Dirty Faces.

Damian Jones