The vocalists on Knowle West Boy are not really famous, so no big names as on Vulnerable. Tricky explains that he likes to work with unknown artists: “A lot of these people are around me and are friends. I always work at home – I don’t like commercial studios, there’s no vibe in them – so if I’m hanging out at my house, I usually know a singer or a friend who plays an instrument, so I just call up and say “Do you want to come round and do this vocal for me?” (EndClub). In a later  interview with MTV Canada he describes it like that: "I think it's cause music's part of my life, ... I've got songs with people I no longer talk to..., in normal life people come and go, the only difference is I got it catalogued..., it's like a catalogue in life, writing down a diary". Vocalists on Knowle West Boy are Veronika Coassolo (the song is simply named 'Veronika' after her), who was already on a small tour with Tricky in 2006 and will go on tour again in 2008 and 2011, and Alex Mills ('Puppy Toy'), who is also on Brown Punk Records. Another Brown Punk artist, Kira Skov, will support Tricky on tour this year.

Knowle West Boy was made for the fans, or "like-minded people", as Tricky calls them, because he doesn't like the word fan (Q TV interview): "This album was done for my fans, because for five years I’ve been getting e-mails to my fan website ‘we miss you’, all this beautiful stuff, and I’m like ‘fuck, I’ve taken all these people for granted, I’ve got to make an album for them’." (Music OHM). The album was co-produced by Bernard Butler (guitarist from Suede) which was difficult for Tricky: "He's got no clue! So I just took it home and re-did it all, protected some of my songs" (The Skinny). Still Bernard Butler wanted the credits as co-producer: "Laurence from Domino [Tricky's record label] spoke with his manager and even he admitted that he didn't hear any of his stuff on there. But he insisted on the credit. He was willing to take me to court over it" (Brooklyn Vegan). Some critics say "Knowle West Boy" is Tricky’s best album, but he is realistic about that: "If you do something that doesn’t sound as dark, people say it’s your best stuff… I’ll just get a bit more radio play on this one. I think when they say better, it just means more accessible.” (End Club).

In 2008 Tricky also moves back to London to be nearer to his family and daughter Mazy. “Six hours to New York and I’m still in America. It makes you lazy, you don’t wanna do a 12 hour flight, LA is isolated” (The Wire). But soon it seems that being in London is maybe a bit too close to his family: "Sometimes my family [brothers and cousins and uncles; his gran] can get a bit much." (The Observer). A friend of his brought the arts center 104 in Paris to his attention, where he also played a concert for its inauguration in October 2008. In January 2009 he settles in a recording studio or atelier at the 104 to support local artists. He records tracks with Amadou Ndiaye, an album with the title 'Why Can't You See Us' was supposed to come out (RFI), but it seems it didn't yet. But Tricky moves to Paris anyway, later he explains that he can work there really well, because it has no nightlife to distract him (contrary to LA!). It seems that Tricky can't stay too long in one place, in an older interview in 1998 with Viva 2 he gave a reason for this: "When you're somewhere too long, you just become blinkered and you don't see the beauty anymore". He also explains that he gets lethargic, if he stays too long in one place, and that he likes to be a stranger: "I'm comfortable with strangeness. That keeps me going" (The Guardian).

It doesn't go unnoticed by the press that in 2009 Tricky and Massive Attack "made up". What has happened that caused a rift between them? Basically they were arguing about Tricky's input on Protection, which made their relationship get sour. "I've got animosity towards them for saying they co-wrote 'Karmacoma' when I did all the music and most of the words, and they've got animosity towards me for doing my own thing. It's something you can't put your finger on" (NME 1995). As Tricky saw it Massive Attack were also too much concerned about money and business, it also led him to write the song "Money Greedy" in 1998. Tricky will even record songs again with 3D in 2012, but they still won't be buddies. We'll get to that later... 2009 also sees the re-release of Maxinquaye as a double CD: the first disc has the digitally-remastered original songs, the second has some unreleased and new remixes. Most of the remixes are done by Tricky with various partners.

Meanwhile Tricky is working on his next album for Domino Records, it will be released in 2010 and called "Mixed Race". It is not really highly rated by his "like-minded people", not only because of its shortness of 37 minutes, but also because it doesn't sound much like Tricky. He delves more into dance and Electro sound with 'Time To Dance', 'UK Jamaican' or 'Bristol To London'. The more experimental songs like 'Early Bird' are not released as singles and rarely played live. Tricky notices later that some of the songs don't really work live: "We did ‘Murder Weapon’ at a show, we did it for about 30 seconds, but it was just not good. It didn’t seem real. A lot of that stuff just ain’t really me to be honest with you" (Faster Louder). How come he made an album that "ain't really him"? In later interview he points out that Domino Records was not the right label for him, because they were a rock label, so he felt obligated to include a lot of guitars and have a rock sound. Basically he tried to please the label, because they already spent a lot of money on him. Also he didn't get along with the label's boss Laurence Bell: "I wasn’t “compromised” but I was being watched. For instance, I would record demo tracks then the owner of Domino would come and come over to Paris and to listen to everything and tell me whether I’m ready to mix. My whole vide was, “How would this guy who’s never made a record, he’s just a company owner, how would he know if I’m ready to mix?” It was like doing homework and then showing it to your teacher to get permission to go to the next level" (Faster Louder). 

You could call 'Mixed Race' Tricky's "gangster album" with songs like "Murder Weapon" or "Ghetto Stars", but he doesn't glorify gangsters and also the lyrics get twisted when sung by a woman. The video for 'Murder Weapon', the first single, was shot in the boxing gym "La Salle" in Paris (Tricky is more into boxing now than Tai Chi). 'Ghetto Stars' is actually written and sung by Francesca Belmonte, the main female vocalist on this album and the next ones, she is already singing live for Tricky since 2008. She called herself Franky Riley at that time, as an hommage to her favorite singers like Patti Smith and Debby Harry. Tricky found her through an advert, by which he tried to find a new singer. Francesca quotes the ad later in an interview like this: ‘Looking for a prepared and heterogeneous vocalist’ (Playmilano). And that she really is! From all the women singing with Tricky she is probably the one who is closest to Martina's voice. Tricky says about her: "Francesca is a very old soul. To be 25 and try to sing blues music is kinda ridiculous; you kinda have to find your own way, but she’s managed to do that without any of it sounding like second-hand emotions. She’s a rare creature, the real deal." (Self-titled Mag). Other vocalists on the album are Terry Lynn ('UK Jamaican', a sort of reworking of her song Kingston Logic), Bobby Gillespie ('Really Real'), Hakim Hamadouche ('Hakim'), Blackman and his brother Marlon ('Bristol To London'), but Francesca is the main vocalist and they will continue to work together for the next years...