Fuse

Rough Trade Albums of the Year 2023 (UK) Rank: #17 (See full list here). Everything But The Girl formed in 1982 by singer-songwriter-musicians Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt. Their debut single was a stark jazz-folk cover of Cole Porter’s Night and Day. Acclaimed for their tender-tough lyrics, Thorn’s unique voice and Watt’s arrangements, they released a string of UK gold albums throughout the 1980s experimenting with jazz, guitar pop, orchestral wall-of-sound and drum-machine soul. 1990 saw their breakthrough in America with the radio hit, Driving. In 1992 their world tour was abandoned when Ben was dramatically admitted to hospital with a life-threatening auto-immune disease from which he nearly died. The story is captured in his acclaimed memoir, Patient. The pair returned with the million-selling ardent folk-soul of Amplified Heart (1994). The album includes their biggest hit, Missing, after New York DJ-producer Todd Terry’s remix unexpectedly made the leap from heavy club play to global radio success (#2, US Hot 100; # 3 UK Top 40). It was followed by the sparkling Walking Wounded (1996, #4 UK Album Chart), brimming with sounds and grooves from the mid 90s electronic scene. Spawning four UK Top 40 hits, it became the band’s first platinum album. After Temperamental (1999), the duo chose to quit on a high. Tracey focused on family life away from the spotlight before returning with a run of solo albums and best-selling autobiographical books. Ben moved into DJing and remixing, and launched the respected electronic label, Buzzin’ Fly. He returned to his singer-songwriter roots with a trilogy of solo albums from 2014-2020. Now Everything But The Girl return with a new studio album – the first for over two decades.