Published in December 2022, on Goodreads:
"I had a great time reading this book, it’s been truly insightful - insightful into a band that changed the course of British music history, into the socio-political and economic context of Bristol in the ‘90s and the impact the 60s Windrush had on the musical influences of the place around the time and into the connections and tensions between the band’s members.
I was interested to read this book to find out more about the political and social context of the UK at the time and the impact it had on music, specifically on the underground - the book did not disappoint at all. It was a brilliant presentation of the context and the band, going back and forth between the two as you couldn’t have spoken about one without the other.
Thoroughly researched and accessible, I feel I have learned a great deal about a group that I truly love and admire.
A personal critique would be perhaps that the story seems to somewhat revolve around 3D / Robert Del Naja; while I understand he was the main creative and cog in the MA wheel, I wanted to know more about Daddy G and Tricky (particularly their Afro-Caribbean context and how this influenced their career paths in and outside of MA).
Overall, a beautiful read.
I would recommend to anyone who is a fan of the MA phenomenon, British underground and electronica - or simply interested to understand how a phenomenon of this calibre is born."
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I do want to reply to the criticism, as I heard that a couple of times:
I interviews over 30 artists for this book, and when I met Robert, he completely stood out. Our discussions helped me tremendously and his interest in activism was so genuine, I therefore decided to centre the whole story around his work, to anchor the different elements, music, arts, stage work and politics, around a strong axis.
Otherwise, it would have been an impossible mission in terms of storytelling, and risked ending up sounding like a A to Z on the Bristol scene, with dozens of entries. I didn't want that.
I sometimes think that is why such a book never came to life before I started this work in 2015.
Robert helped me find the inspiration for a strong and unique narrative arche, and I was really grateful.
If anyone want to take another angle, I'm sure, it could be interesting too. Look, Tricky wrote his biography, I reviewed it and interviewed him about it.
As for Grant Marshall (aka Daddy G), he swears he will one day work on a film project about his life... Be patient. Or not!
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Another short review, extract from Crack Magazine:
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