The year 2011 ends with bad news for Tricky: his former manager Matt Willis sues him for £150,000. Willis was hired in 2010 and then fired in 2011. Because he had a 3-year contract he is suing now for his unpaid fees. So when his manager suggested to do a Maxinquaye reunion tour with Martina to get quick money for paying Willis, Tricky agreed. The short UK tour included gigs in Bristol, London and Manchester. What could have been a dream for old-school fans - Tricky reunited with Martina - was mostly disappointing for both fans and critics. Tricky was not really in the mood for the shows, sometimes leaving the stage. Later he admits that it was a mistake: "As soon as I walked on stage I realised that this manager took me back 15 years and not in a good way... It’s not his fault, he wasn’t doing it maliciously, but it was just a very bad idea" (Faster Louder). He never liked to perform Maxinquaye songs: "The more I build my catalog, the better my shows can be. Maxinquaye is too linear to do live. I don’t know if I’d want to see an artist doing just one album." (Self-titled Mag). From the beginning it was clear that this reunion was just temporary, as Tricky is already in the process of recording new material with Francesca. Also his relationship with Martina is so good, that he doesn't want to risk that, as Tricky puts it: "We're like brother and sister now. If we'd carried on working, we wouldn't have built this relationship. Right now she's one of my favourite people in the world. I wouldn't give that up just for a vocal." (The Guardian, 2008). In retrospective he also explains: "Going back to Maxinquaye has given me a new energy and I feel like doing these shows and working with Martina is closing the chapter and then I’m moving into a new chapter. It’s good" (The Independent)

In 2012 he has also recorded three or four tracks with 3D in Paris, which are not released so far, maybe on a future Massive Attack album. But Tricky doesn't get along with 3D very well: "He’s not a malicious person, but he loves his Massive Attack thing too much" (Electronic Beats). Tricky takes on an almost brutal honesty in interviews these days when it comes to artists who take themself too seriously (for example Lenny Kravitz). Tricky also directs a short movie called 'Sophie Sees' (You Tube). It is about a woman (played by Sophie Accard) who mixes reality and imagination by making up videos in her head, one of these videos is a song by Francesca (called 'I could'), who is in the process of writing music herself. Tricky mentions in interviews that he wants to record a cover album of Kim Deal and Breeders songs (Faster Louder), but nothing happened yet. Only one song seems to be ready and gets played live quite often ('Do you love me now'). 

But he records material for a new album in 2012 and plays new songs live at the end of the year (for example Parenthesis in Moscow). Some of these songs originated from his time on Domino Records, but he held them back (Gästeliste). The new songs are released in May 2013 on his tenth album 'False Idols'. The press sees it as comeback album (once again!) and compares it to Maxinquaye. Well, at least it has a more natural "Tricky-sound" than the last two albums, which Tricky explains like this: "I was more relaxed, more comfortable, less stressed. Just me using my natural instinct, rather than thinking. It was just really simple, this album, because it’s all about me and what I wanted to do." (Faster Louder). The main vocalist is of course Francesca, but it also features FiFi Rong, Nneka and Peter Silberman from The Antlers (for whom Tricky did a remix of 'Crest' in 2012). Some songs quote older Tricky songs, for example "Nothing's Changed" references "Makes me wanna die": 'Follow where Mary goes, Cherish the things she knows, Says if I change my stride, Then I'll fly'. Makes Me Wanna Die is probably about his mother, so with "Nothing's Changed" he basically says that despite all what's happened he still feels the same and still hasn't got over that loss. "I find that song really hard to listen to. Francesca loves that song, but I told her I don’t really want to listen to it again because it brings up all of the same shit. It’s almost like I’m bored of it. I’m not sad anymore; it just brings up these memories I thought I’d dealt with. Obviously I haven’t" (Self-titled Mag).

The title "False Idols" was inspired by people who have power, but don't use it to do something good, for instance Barack Obama (“Obama is an inspiration because he’s such a devil”, Faster Louder) or fake stars like Kanye West or Rihanna. "False Idols" is also the name of his new label under the umbrella of !K7 Records. He didn't want to make a mistake like with Domino Records again: "On Domino Records [who released Tricky's last two albums] I spent a hundred grand on two videos. But you have to pay back that debt, so straight away you're playing the game of trying to make a radio record, which is impossible for me. On this album, I've done three videos and a short movie for five grand. Now I've got my own label I can do what I want. I'm having fun." (The Guardian). 

This fun results in a new productivity that resembles the start of his career, because shortly after the release of 'False Idols' Tricky is already working on new material in his home studio, which is now located in London instead of Paris. The next album is already released in September 2014, only 16 months after False Idols! The album is called 'Adrian Thaws', Tricky explains the choice like this: "It’s just my birth name. Thaws means when ice thaws so this album could be called 'When Adrian Melts'. My first album was my mum’s name and now I’ve come to the point of using my birth name. People still don’t really know me, it’s saying ‘you still ain’t got a clue who I am’." (The Skinny). It seems to bother him that people think they know him, like a fan who was surprised that he chose a house tune for his series "Tricky's Choices" (on You Tube or Spotify). As a reaction to that comment he chose 'Nicotine Love' as the first single: "Nicotine Love was the last song, that wasn't supposed to be on the album... So that tune was done just through that kind of comment really... Don't judge me, don't try to think for me or think what I like" (NME).

Maybe the album was also done so quickly, because he had most of the material ready: he recorded 4 tracks with Danish singer Oh Land in July 2012, only one made it to the album though. Also 'Lonnie Listen' was almost ready, Tricky was just looking for someone to do part of the vocals:" That track is about three-years-old. I had my vox on it and Fran’s. It fell into place meeting Mykki Blanco" (BBM). Mykki Blanco was Tricky's support act in Berlin in 2013 and he was very impressed by him: "He came into the dressing room afterwards with a mini skirt on and a wig and I was like woa... He's got a man's strength and a woman's rage" (NME).  In some cases he already had an idea in his head: "I’ve always wanted to cover Silly Games but needed to find the right person to cover it with... And after I heard Tirzah for the first time I thought this is the person who can do Silly Games. And she takes it somewhere else” (The Skinny). Tirzah was introduced to him through his daughter Mazy, who is also on the album as Silver Tongue. The album has a lot of guest singers, although he said in an interview in 2013 that his next record will have more of his own vocals (Ladygunn). But he doesn't like his voice as much as others do: "I’ve always wanted to be able to sing and I get shocked when people tell me to use my voice more on albums. I don’t understand why people are so intrigued by my voice because I’d like a different one" (Opening Ceremony). He also seems to be fascinated by other people singing his lyrics: "And I love the part where you write the vocals, then put them down – or the girls put them down – and you first hear them and it’s no longer the same thing. It’s like a present, it’s like Christmas." (Heaphone Commute). The album doesn't only have many different singers, but also many different styles, prompting reviewers to call it either eclectic or inconsistent. Whatever it is, Tricky definitely took more risk doing this album than False Idols, and showing with this mixture of styles that he can do what he wants and thus proving his point that people don't really know him.

Another reason for the quick delivery of a new album may be that music making is like meditation to him: "Some people might do yoga or ski. When I make music, I don’t have a stress... When I’m doing music, I don’t have problems, I’m not hungry, I’m not cold." (Heaphone Commute). Maybe he also got inspired by the tons of unreleased material that resurfaced from his abandoned storage space in New York from the years 1995-1999. Amy Albataew took photos of the things in it and put together the "Adrian Thaws archive" on Tumblr.