Everything But The Girl
Fuse
Buzzin’ Fly/Virgin
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From 1982 to 2000, Everything But The Girl carved an unpredictable journey in pop music for themselves by being left-of-center, forward-thinking, and full of surprises.
Their studio albums genre-hopped through jazz and bossa nova (1984’s Eden,) soulful orchestral balladry (1986’s Baby, The Stars Shine Bright,) sophisto-pop (1988’s Idlewild) and electronic dance music (1996’s Walking Wounded and 1999’s Temperamental). You could sense from these recordings that Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt were constantly curious, quietly rebellious, and musically mercurial.
When they disbanded professionally as a duo in 2000 after 18 years of making music together, the split came as a surprise because they were at the top of their game. After American DJ/Producer Todd Terry’s remix of “Missing” from their 1994 album Amplified Heart became a surprise global pop hit (US #2 / UK #3) they jumped genres again to electronic-based music in 1996 with Walking Wounded—which became their best-selling album.
Three years later they doubled down on elegant beat-driven songs with Temperamental—an album that solidified them as purveyors of decadent dance music affectingly anchored by deeply drawn explorations of human behavior crafted into introspective song lyrics.
In the years since their decades-long hiatus, they raised three children (their son, Blake, picked up the family business with his indie band Family Stereo), authored books, ran record labels, and recorded critically acclaimed solo albums.
For over two decades, Thorn and Watt would say that Everything But The Girl was in the past. When I interviewed Watt in 2020 a few months before the pandemic, he remarked about the pressure from fans to fire EBTG up again by telling me, “We’re doing this now, you know? We did that, now we’re doing this.” Everything But The Girl’s story was assumed to be over. Done. In the rear view. Actually, VERY far in the rear view.
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So it was a shock when they nonchalantly announced on Twitter in November of last year that they had secretly recorded a new Everything But The Girl album. Thorn and Watt revealed it in the most calm, cool and understatedly British way with a sweetly penned tweet saying, “Just thought you’d like to know that we have made a new Everything But The Girl album. It’ll be out next spring. Love, Ben and Tracey.”
It was an earthquake of a pop music announcement lovingly tweeted with a smiling heart-eyed emoji at the end of it as if they were parents leaving a note on the fridge for their kids saying, “Hey… we went to the movies tonight. Be back around 11. Love, Mum & Dad.”
After 22 years, Thorn and Watt had turned back towards each other, lit the EBTG neon sign, and creatively and professionally merged themselves together again to create a new album. The result is the aptly titled Fuse. It’s a stunningly regal return to form in 10 new songs from the duo, brimming with immersive emotional journeys about connection set against vibrant beats, glowing effects and stunning songcraft that fucks around with chords, song structures and expectations.
Across the album, ambient dream sonics (“Interior Space”) sidle up next to four-on-the-floor bangers (“Forever”) and ponderous balladry (“Lost”). Its primarily electronic creations are expansive, beautifully restless, and gloriously plush and luxuriant (“Caution To The Wind”).
Tactile tension abounds all over this record. You can almost touch the skittering anxieties of unrequited desire in the prickly dubstep of “Nothing Left To Lose,” see dimly lit carnal chemistry thrusting in the thick Italo disco vibes of “No One Knows We’re Dancing,” and hear the dangerous electrical current romanticizing a cocaine-fueled promise of fame and fortune (“They’ll all know my name soon / Anyway, anyway, anyway…”) in the seductive “Run A Red Light.”
Time and technology advances have only sharpened Watt’s skill set and broadened his palette as he paints the backbone of these songs with thoughtfully constructed, colorful soundscapes. Each is driven by a clear intent to communicate subtext rather than only provide a conveyor belt of beats and time. Like in “Lost,” where hazy static speaks about layers of confusion when life throws you a curveball. Or how the crackling glass shards in the background of self-aware piano ballad “When You Mess Up” illustrate the risks of continually walking back through remnants of your past mistakes. Not an instrument, drum loop, synth line or found sound is painted into these songs without purpose; they're all telling part of a story as the other character in the room.
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In the years since Thorn’s last solo album (2018’s Record), her signature stirring and autumnal voice has grown more languid, deeper, and noticeably broader in its ability to cradle complicated emotions. Working again with Watt on Fuse after all these years, Thorn sounds looser than ever—effortlessly shifting into her fluttering upper register more than we’ve ever heard her do on albums before.
Thorn’s vocals on previous recordings have always been imbued with tenderness, compassion, vulnerability and a slight underpinning of fear. On Fuse, she introduces more passion and seduction into her arsenal—like her humid and cottony soft low notes on “Run A Red Light” or the slight carnal moan she adds at the end of the line “‘Cause nothing works without you…” in “Nothing Left To Lose.”
In “Caution To The Wind,” Thorn also unveils a newfound elegant ferocity in her delivery. It moonlights as a demand to have the end of every word be fully declared (listen to her emphasis of the letter “n” in “All the stars align / Shimmer and shine”) so that her and Watt’s lyrics can be clearly heard.
All over Fuse, Thorn’s more sultry vocal approaches and Watt’s hypnotic soundscapes introduce a brush stroke of sensuality on this album that hasn't been heard much before in their previous work together or as solo artists. And when Watt autotunes Thorn’s vocals—another new color Everything But The Girl is painting with on Fuse—it feels sexy in its youthful rebelliousness (“Time And Time Again”) and willingness to mangle expectations of how Everything But The Girl would (or should) present Thorn’s signature sound (“Interior Space”).
An absolute banger of an awakening was caught on record with this album. Skillfully constructed, carefully crafted, familiar and fresh all at the same time, Thorn and Watt have never sounded more in sync, connected, and inspired by each other than they do on Fuse—an album that immediately catapults itself to the top of the heap with Everything But The Girl’s best work.
Notable Tracks: “Caution To The Wind” | “Lost” | “No One Knows We’re Dancing” | “Nothing Left To Lose” | “Run A Red Light”
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