Recorded at Grove Studios, Ocho Rios, Jamaica and Platinum Island Studios, New York, New York.

Personnel: Tricky (vocals, harmonica); Rock Smith (vocals, background vocals); Patrice Chevalier (guitar); Pat McManus (violin, piano); John Tonks (drums).

Audio Mixers: Ian Caple; Tricky.

Recording information: Grove Studios, Ocho Rios, Jamaica; Platinum Island Studios, NY.

Photographer: Stephane Sednaoui.

Urbane and despairing, this trip-hop king's second album under his own name is a genuine fin-de-siecle concoction. Apocalyptic messages are projected over layers of gleaming noises and libidinous rhythms that lurk underneath the surface like secret cities. Although his songs are full of sinister, futuristic overtones, Tricky refuses to be cornered as a messianic spokesperson. No longer working under the moniker "Nearly God," and discontented with the role of anonymous auteur, he's the "Tricky Kid": simultaneously celebrating and bemoaning the musician-as-god paradigm.

Tricky continues to weave narratives from a variety of standpoints--everyone from the ghetto-dweller to the biggest superstar is given a voice on this album. Martina Topley Bird, a long-time Tricky accomplice, lends her sultry voice to several tracks, giving them the sophisticated, continental ambience of Portishead. No matter who is doing the talking, these songs are delivered with a cool detachment. PRE-MILLENNIUM TENSION is infallibly hip: an apotheosis of urban grace.