Nearly God was recorded in three weeks during the summer, in New York and London, and Tricky himself describes it as
"a collection of brilliant, incomplete demos". The tracks were re-worked and mixed in London by
Ian Caple and Tricky. Originally,
Nearly God also included a song with
Blur frontman
Damon Albarn, but it was removed at the last minute, with Tricky expressing displeasure at Albarn's working methods, saying: ''"He wants to work on something for like two months and then do the vocals again and again and again, and I don't work like that."'' The song was later recorded again with former
Madness singer Suggs, but this version ("I'll pass right through you") was not released either. Four of ten rumoured songs with
Neneh Cherry were released on her singles "Woman", "Kootchi" and "Feel it" in 1996 and 1997. Tricky also recorded another song with
Cath Coffey, a cover of the
Grease song "Summer Nights" which was released in 1997 on her first album
Mind the Gap (released only in Japan so far). The final product contains collaborations with
Terry Hall (singer of
The Specials),
Alison Moyet,
Cath Coffey,
Neneh Cherry,
Björk and
Martina Topley-Bird. The first track is a cover of "
Tattoo", a
b-side of popular
post-punk band
Siouxsie and the Banshees. Scott McKeating of
Stylus Magazine describes
Nearly God as a much darker-sounding album than
Maxinquaye, calling it a "dark, zoned out, Class-A substance damaged
lo-fi affair which still manages to force melody through dark mesh. Realistically though, this isn’t a dyspeptic, career destroying
Metal Machine Music themed 'fuck you'. Because while the songs forms are barely scratched in, never mind being fleshed out; Tricky makes the sound of dark nights, of want and solitude just as engaging as anything on his debut." == Critical reception ==