Sly (Massive Attack song)

"Sly" is a song by British trip hop collective Massive Attack. It was released as a first single from their second album, Protection (1994), on 17 October 1994 by Wild Bunch and Circa. Vocals on the track are performed by Scottish singer-songwriter Nicolette. "Sly" reached number 24 in the United Kingdom, becoming Massive Attack's fourth top-40 single there.

Background
Sly was the combination of Craig Armstrong's strings combined with Nicolette's vocals. After hearing her first album Now is Early, and being suitably impressed by it, Massive Attack chose Nicolette to appear on Protection.

Critical reception
Push from Melody Maker felt releasing the song as the first single from the Protection album was "the smartest choice", praising the "dreamy-voices" by Nicolette. He concluded, "Thumbs up." Dele Fadele from NME wrote, "'Sly' finds Nigerian-born Nicolette trilling on in a sultry and wistful manner about time-travel, fate and destiny whilst the string-laden, mid-tempo backdrop conjures up images of the South Seas Pacific and somewhere more devastated and ominous. The overall effect is of putting your ears close to a sea shell and hearing clear, chiming, harmonic bells; as dazzling as that."

Track listings

 * UK CD1 and cassette single; Australian CD single
 * 1) "Sly" (7-inch edit) – 4:10
 * 2) "Sly" (7 Stones mix) – 5:58
 * 3) "Sly" (Underdog mix) – 5:19
 * 4) "Sly" (Underdog double bass & a cappella) – 3:36


 * UK CD2
 * 1) "Sly" (album version) – 5:24
 * 2) "Sly" (Underdog version) – 4:29
 * 3) "Sly" (Cosmic dub) – 5:26
 * 4) "Sly" (Eternal Feedback dub) – 6:23


 * UK 12-inch single
 * A1. "Sly" (7 Stones mix) – 5:58
 * A2. "Sly" (Underdog mix) – 5:19
 * B1. "Sly" (Cosmic dub) – 5:26
 * B2. "Sly" (album version) – 5:24
 * B3. "Sly" (Eternal Feedback dub) – 6:23


 * European CD single
 * 1) "Sly" (7-inch edit) – 4:10
 * 2) "Sly" (7 Stones mix) – 5:58


 * US maxi-CD single
 * 1) "Sly" (7-inch edit)
 * 2) "Sly" (7 Stones mix)
 * 3) "Sly" (Underdog mix)
 * 4) "Sly" (Cosmic dub)
 * 5) "Karmacoma" (LP version)