 Almost all of Topley @-@ Bird 's vocals on Maxinquaye were recorded in a single take , a process she later said was " totally instinctive . There was no time to drum up an alter ego . " Topley @-@ Bird , a soft @-@ spoken singer , found herself backed on most tracks by Tricky 's rapped vocals . According to British music journalist Sean O 'Hagan , she sang with a " broken voice " that acted as " the perfect foil to Tricky 's whispered and <unk> raps " . The liner notes credited Tricky and Topley @-@ Bird for vocals on all songs except " Pumpkin " and " You Don 't " , which Tricky performed with vocalists Alison Goldfrapp and <unk> , respectively . A printing error mistakenly credited the then @-@ unknown Topley @-@ Bird as " Martine " on the record . Other musicians were recruited to play instruments for some tracks , including guitarist James Stevenson and bassist Pete <unk> . The band <unk> performed on " Black Steel " , which was a rock version of Public Enemy 's " Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos " ( 1988 ) and one of two remakes on Maxinquaye ; Tricky also remade one of his contributions for Massive Attack , " <unk> " ( 1994 ) , retitling it as " Overcome " . Saunders contributed guitar himself , with the resulting improvisations treated as samples . 
