Everything but the Girl "Fuse" (2023)

Fuse

release date: Apr. 21, 2023

format: vinyl (LTD. green vinyl) + digital (10 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,80]

producer: EBTG

label: Buzzin' Fly / Virgin Music / Verve - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Nothing Left to Lose" (4,5 / 5) - 3. "Caution to the Wind" - 4. "When You Mess Up" - 6. "No One Knows We're Dancing" - 7. "Lost" (4 / 5) - 8. "Forever" - 10. "Karaoke"

11th studio album following Temperamental by more than 23 years!!! Yes! The waiting game is over - it's finally here! I received this the day after its official release. And it still feels a bit early to hand a 'fixed' grade, and I may change it over the following months. The album has quite naturally been met by positive response. Alone the wait secures this a decent response, though, it's damn nice that not all artists wait that long in between albums. Both Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt have released solo albums since what was until now seen as their final album as a duo, and they have both experienced some artistic success, although, their key brand is EBTG.

Now, if the cover art doesn't exactly look and feel like an EBTG album, the music surely does. In every possible way this is an album for people who love this duo - for what their legacy means. It appears to combine [the fuse?] almost all their stylistic variations from jazzy bits, a great deal of sophisti-pop and parts of their late electronic period. In that way, it doesn't bring about something extraordinary or introduce us to a new move. Where Walking Wounded (1996) was a major step into electronic clubland and Temperamental (1999) kicked in doors to new combinations, this one takes off as a more gentle kind. Not that EBTG has ever been 'hard' or extreme, it's obvious to point to a maturity, when in fact it's probably more the result of a condensed expression - highlighting many of the styles they have been involved with. Or: at least these are my personal initial thoughts 'cause they really sound like EBTG without hitting a copy / paste function.

"Nothing Left to Lose" is a monster of a song that brings to mind the very best from their late period, but again, it's not a copy but something that brings the band into a new era. It's really wonderful to have another album from this highly influential duo. Watt knows about colouring the mix and Thorn... well, she just blows you over with her enchanting vocal. Strong as ever. Again. I already love it!

Highly recommended.

[ 👉allmusic.com, Mojo, NME 4 / 5, Pitchfork 7,7 / 10, Clash 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Tracey Thorn "Record" (2018)

Record
release date: Mar. 2, 2018
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,48]
producer: Ewan Pearson
label: Unmade Road - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Queen" - 2. "Air" - 3. "Guitar" - 5. "Sister" - 8. "Face"

5th studio album by Tracey Thorn released on [her husband] the Ben Watt-founded label Unmade Roads comes 2½ years after her extensive compilation album Solo: Songs and Collaborations 1982-2015 (made as both 2-disc and single disc issues) and follows some 5½ years since her latest solo studio album Tinsel and Lights from 2012.
Stylistically, these new songs don't expose any new moves by Thorn. It's all made in a warm atmosphere of synthpop alt. dance, which mostly points back to her 2007 comeback solo album Out of the Woods, which is her latest album of pure synthpop, but in essence, the songs feel more like extended and well-known sophisti-pop of Everything but the Girl.
Despite not having released more than 5 albums in the span of 36 years - 3 of which have been issued since 2007, this new solo album is actually Thorn's best selling album to date peaking at number #15 on the national albums chart list, and the critical reception also seems to have welcomed the album as one of her best. Tracey Thorn is currently not "just" known for her musical output - be it her early stages with Marine Girls, her most famous contributions with Ben Watt and their project Everything but the Girl, or her solo releases - she is also columnist of New Statesman; and an acclaimed author of so far three books with the best-selling autobiographical debut from 2013, "Bedsit Disco Queen". Luckily, she hasn't completely abandoned music, and this her most recent album only demonstrates what a gifted musician she is.
It's not so much the songs themselves as the characteristic vocal of Thorn that makes these 9 songs shine. It's an album only touching 35 mins. running time, but Thorn sounds just as fresh and vibrant as on familiar albums of the 1980s or 1990s - there's simply no trace of the years gone by in that fine instrument of hers - and that's this album's biggest feature.
Record is a fine return of one of Britain's finest vocals.
[ allmusic.com, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Tracey Thorn "Tinsel and Lights" (2012)

Tinsel and Lights
release date: Oct. 30, 2012
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,36]
producer: Ewan Pearson
label: Strange Feeling Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Joy" - 2. "Hard Candy Christmas" - 3. "Like a Snowman" - 4. "Maybe This Christmas" - 8. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" - 9. "Tinsel and Lights" - 10. "River" - 11. "Taking Down the Tree" (feat. Green Gartside)

4th studio album by Tracey Thorn is a collection of Christmas songs written by various contemporary and classic artists including Joni Mitchell, Ron Sexsmith, Randy Newman, Jack White, Sufjan Stevens and Green Gartside (the latter also featuring on vocals on two tracks), as well as three by Thorn herself. The songs are not 'the usual' familiar canonical hymns but selected songs adapted for a quiet and uniform chamber pop sound. The first track "Joy" by Thorn feature husband Ben Watt and their three children on choir. Watt also contribute on guitar and piano on several tracks, and also producer Ewan Pearson handles synths on the majority of the tracks. Other musicians are Steve Pearce on bass and Leo Taylor on drums.
The album is a delicate, warm and fine alternative Christmas album.
[ allmusic.com, The Guardian 4 / 5 stars ]

Tracey Thorn "Love and Its Opposite" (2010)

Love and Its Opposite
release date: May 18, 2010
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,32]
producer: Ewan Pearson
label: Strange Feeling Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Oh, the Divorces!" - 2. "Long White Dress" - 3. "Hormones" - 10. "Swimming"

3rd studio album by Tracey Thorn following her 2007 comeback solo Out of the Woods, which also had Ewan Pearson in the producer seat. The album offers 10 tracks with a total running time at just above 37 mins.
Stylistically, Thorn doesn't stir up things by embracing new styles. It's however, a clear change from her 2007 album that followed the style of recent releases by Everything but the Girl with a clear focus on electronica, but it's still a well-known formula from the now 47-year old Brit. It may be filed as indie pop, but mostly what I hear is folk pop and chamber pop, which isn't far from the sound earlier employed by her former band-project with Ben Watt before embracing electronic downtempo and trip hop and as such relate to music she played in the 1980s and 90s.
As the title indicates, the songs dwell on relationships, and it's always nice to hear new songs from Thorn, although, the album doesn't better her fine 2007 comeback album.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Tracey Thorn "Out of the Woods" (2007)

Out of the Woods
release date: Mar. 5, 2007
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,54]
producer: Ewan Pearson
label: Virgin Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Here It Comes Again" - 2. "A-Z" - 3. "It's All True" - 5. "Hands Up to the Ceiling" - 9. "Grand Canyon" - 10. "By Piccadilly Station I Sat Down and Wept" - 11. "Raise the Roof"

2nd solo album by Tracey Thorn released after Everything but the Girl has been put on a longtime halt. Ewan Pearson has produced 6 of 11 tracks, Tom Gandey two songs, and Charles Webster, Martin Wheeler and Alex Santos are all credited for producing one track each. It's been more than 7 years since her last album, Temperamental from 1999 with future husband Ben Watt [Thorn and Watt were married in 2008]. In the meantime Thorn has given birth to and helped raising three children, and this is the long-awaited comeback.
Musically, Thorn combines alt. dance and downtempo associated with EBTG on their last three albums of the late 90s with a softer tone of typical synthpop sound with traces of chamber pop. The album is far from her solo debut, A Distant Shore from 1982, and it would have been a surprising attempt to follow that in style. Out of the Woods is of course a delicate sonic experience, and I guess the biggest single characteristic about the album is its diversity. Some songs are strong synthpop compositions, others are club-like downtempo songs that tastes of Temperamental (1999) and Walking Wounded (1996) and then others have a distinct sophisti-pop quality that takes us further back down the road with Everything but the Girl. On top of it all, Thorn binds it all together with her melancholic alto vocal, which hasn't dated one bit. Cleverly, she narrates about familiar tales that circle around love and relationships. In fact, the album just takes off as if she hadn't been out - or: in the woods.
The album is a pleasant return from one of England's finest voices of popular music and a very recommendable album.
[ allmusic.com, The Guardian 4 / 5 stars ]

Everything but the Girl "Temperamental" (1999)

2015 Deluxe Edition

Temperamental
release date: Sep. 28, 1999
format: 2 cd (2015 remaster - Deluxe Edition)
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,28]
producer: Ben Watt
label: Edsel Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: Disc 1, 1. "Five Fathoms" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "Low Tide of the Night" - 3. "Blame" (5 / 5) - 4. "Hatfield 1980" (4,5 / 5) - 5. "Temperamental" - 6. "Compression" (4,5 / 5) - 7. "Downhill Racer" - 8. "Lullaby of Clubland" - 9. "No Difference" - 10. "The Future of the Future (Stay Gold)" - *11. "Firewall" - *12. "Come In (unfinished album track)" - *13. "Temperamental (live at The Forum, London, 1999)"

Disc 2, "Remixes": 1. "Five Fathoms (Club 69 Future Club mix)" - 2. "Five Fathoms (Kevin Yost Enlightenment mix)" - 3. "Temperamental (Pull Timewarp mix) - 4. "Temperamental (Hex Hector and Mac Quayle Reverse Drum dub)" - 5. "Temperamental (Wamdue Project remix)" - 6. "Blame (Fabio remix)" - 7. "Blame (J Majik VIP remix)" - 8. "Downhill Racer (Kenny Dope remix)" - 9. "Lullaby of Clubland (Markus Schulz Tribal Journey)" - 10. "Lullaby of Clubland (Matty Heilbronn II Deep Club mix)"
*Bonus tracks

10th studio album by Everything but the Girl originally released on Virgin Records. The album is the so far final studio album by the twenty-year old duo. On a superficial level it's odd to put a highly successful project to a halt. The huge success from the mid 90s up until this point has much to do with their decision to step into the electronic genre. Todd Terry's remix of "Missing" (1994) became their biggest hit. The house element from that could easily be found on the '96 follow-up album Walking Wounded where it's blended nicely with trip hop, which proved to be another fine statement and evolvement of their music.
Temperamental is an even more electronic-founded album than its two predecessors without much of the trip hop sound from Walking Wounded but it introduces a great synthesis of house, downtempo and the duo's trademarks of jazz pop elements from sophisti-pop and lounge. On top of a strong unique sound the album is like one long meditative take.

The reception of the album was very positive. The duo faced fine reviews and had become a huge name in electronic club-land. Watt intensified his work as producer and DJ, but the couple apparently felt trapped in the stardom that followed Temperamental and only wanted to lead a more private life. In 1998 Tracey Thorn gave birth to twin daughters, and a son followed in 2001, which possibly was decisive changes in their private life and also brought an end to this great duo. Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn were married in 2008, and they're still both engaged in music, although, there are no signs of a continued close musical partnership as Everything but the Girl, alas.

To me, this is one of the very best by the duo, and also one of the absolute best of the year.
Highly recommendable.

About the remaster:
The Deluxe 2xCD Edition remaster booklet is a fine updated package. Not as much for being a remaster as I find it a bit difficult to hear the big differences, but for adding another 3 tracks to an already brilliant album, and on top of that it gives you an additional 10 remixes that are all very unique despite originating from only 5 different songs.
The album is simply one of the best by the duo continuing in the electronic steps laid out on Amplified Heart and followed on Walking Wounded.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

1999 Favourite releases: 1. The Chemical Brothers Surrender - 2. Underworld Beaucoup Fish - 3. Everything but the Girl Temperamental

back cover

Everything but the Girl "Walking Wounded" (1996)

Walking Wounded
release date: May 28, 1996
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,86]
producer: Ben Watt
label: Virgin Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Before Today" (4 / 5) - 2. "Wrong" - 3. "Single" - 4. "The Heart Remains a Child" - 5. "Walking Wounded" (4 / 5) - 6. "Flipside" - 7. "Big Deal" - 8. "Mirrorball" - 9. "Good Cop Bad Cop" - 10. "Wrong (Todd Terry Remix)" - 11. "Walking Wounded (Omni Trio Remix)"

9th studio album by Everything but the Girl. Despite being released two years since the duo's last album, it's a fine continued style from Amplified Heart (1994). That album was mostly sophisti-pop but the bonus track "Missing (Todd Terry Club Mix)", and it's house- and drum and bass-version of the album track, gave them their international breakthrough. Here, Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt have taken a move away from their jazz pop and sophisti-pop influences and based the music on the house-style that brought them fame and combined that with downtempo and elements from trip hop. As with reissues of the '94 album, this has one of the original tracks remixed by Todd Terry: "Wrong (Todd Terry Remix)".
The first two and the title track are the best songs here, but the remainders never bore. I don't find it on the same top-level as their great '94 album, but it's more than just fine, and it proves how this capable duo have found their shelf combining their unique melancholic sophisti-pop with styles taken from electronic music as they now seem to be making the best music of their career.
The album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Everything but the Girl "Missing (The Full Remix EP)" (1994) (ep)

Missing (The Full Remix EP), ep
release date: Nov. 15, 1994
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,42]
producer: Ben Watt, Tracey Thorn, John Coxon (org. pro.)
label: Blanco Y Negro - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Missing (Album Mix)" - 2. "Missing (Lite Mix) [Remix by Todd Terry]" - 3. "Missing (Todd Terry Club Mix)" - 4. "Missing (Chris & James Full On Club Mix)" - 5. "Missing (Ultramarine Mix)" - 6. "Missing (The Little Joey Remix)" - 7. "Missing (Tee's Beat) [Remix by Todd Terry]"

Ep with 7 different versions of "Missing" from the album Amplified Heart. Track #1, the album version, and track #3, which are found on most edition of the album are by far the two best tracks.
The title track was released in various editions - from a "normal" single version with just two tracks through various 12'' maxi singles to this The Full Remix EP, which also includes the "Missing (The Live EP)".

Everything but the Girl "Missing - The Live EP" (1994) (ep) (live)

Missing - The Live EP, ep (live)
release date: Aug. 8, 1994
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,92]
producer: John Coxon, Tracey Thorn, Ben Watt
label: Warner Music - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Missing (Album Version)" - 2. "Each and Every One (Live)" - 3. "I Don't Want to Talk About It (Live)" - 4. "These Days (Live)"

Ep release with the title track taken from the album Amplified Heart, and with 3 live tracks drawn from the band's tour of small clubs in the UK in May 1994. "Missing" became an immediate an unpredictable success, which eventually set a new stylistic course for the duo.
Although, a fine and great single the title track seems like the only track off here, as the three live songs stress the greatness of the duo's past with songs focusing on simplicity, and modern jazz pop that links back to Thorn's background in The Marine Girls. Track #2 is found on the band's debut album from 1984, track #4 "These Days" is a cover originally written and performed by Jackson Browne and track #3 "I Don't Want to Talk About It" is perhaps the strongest cover of that fine song, despite being covered by so many. It's a song written by Danny Whitten from Neil Young's backing band Crazy Horse, and here, Thorn and Watt really makes it their. They made another fine studio cover of the track on the album Idlewild from 1988.

Everything but the Girl "Amplified Heart" (1994)

Amplified Heart
release date: Jul. 19, 1994
format: cd (1995 reissue)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,26]
producer: EBTG (co-produced by John Coxon - 3 tracks)
label: Bianco y Negro - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Rollercoaster" (4 / 5) - 2. "Troubled Mind" (4 / 5) - 3. "I Don't Understand Anything" - 4. "Walking to You" (4,5 / 5) - 5. "Get Me" (5 / 5) - 6. "Missing" (5 / 5) - 7. "Two Star" - 8. "We Walk the Same Line" (4 / 5) - 9. "25th December" - 10. "Disenchanted" (4 / 5) - *11. "Missing (Todd Terry club mix)" (5 / 5) (live on Later)
*bonus track on reissue

8th studio album by Everything but the Girl. This is primarily sophisti-pop and jangle pop. This is a rather typical album by EBTG, although, the songs and compositions are really top-notch from start to finish. As additional personnel the album feature several praised musicians, e.g. Danny Thompson (of The Pentangle) on bass, Dave Mattacks (of Fairport Convention) on drums, Kate St. John (of The Dream Academy) on backing vocals (track #7), Richard Thompson on lead guitar (track #9) and Peter King (studio musician) on sax (track #10).
I think, I bought the album right after hearing the Todd Terry Remix of "Missing" and just wanted that album. The rest of the songs are not in the same electronic style but I never felt that as a disappointment because of its stylistic bonds to my favourite release by the couple, Love Not Money (1985). The songs are great but another fine thing is how Ben and Tracey both share lead vocals on specific songs, although, I really prefer Tracey's vocal, Ben does more than well.
It has taken two years in the making, but it really is a big improvement and clearly their best album in almost a decade. I regard the album as one of the duo's three best albums ever.
Highly recommendable.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

1994 Favourite releases: 1. The Prodigy Music for the Jilted Generation - 2. Everything but the Girl Amplified Heart - 3. C.V. Jørgensen Sjælland

Everything but the Girl "Acoustic" (1992)

Acoustic
release date: Jun. 2, 1992
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,56]
producer: EBTG
label: Blanco y Negro - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "Tougher Than the Rest" (Springsteen) - 4. "Alison" (Costello) - 5. "Downtown Train" (Waits) - 6. "Driving" (Watt) - 9. "Me and Bobby D" - 11. "Fascination" (Live)

7th studio album by Everything but the Girl is something else as half of the songs are cover-versions, the other half either written together or solely by Watt or Thorn, and for being - as the title suggest - a collection of acoustic-arranged songs played with minimal instrumentation. Furthermore, the album contains two songs recorded live.
The album is truly something else than Worldwide from 1991. What comes to mind when presented with a new album release by EBTG is that it's most likely nothing else than their most recent album, and you end up thinking that they seem very unfocused / uncertain of which direction to turn, or: Are they in fact just releasing the songs in the styles they feel like - despite what critics or fans may expect? This is something new, and as such something that older fans will appreciate more than fans of their (big band) sophisti-pop releases.
I like it, 'cause I enjoy their music when it's most simple and you're able to feel the sensations and sincerity of Thorn and Watt.
[ allmusic.com 2,5 / 5 stars ]

Everything but the Girl "Worldwide" (1991)

Worldwide
release date: Sep. 24, 1991
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,22]
producer: Everything but the Girl
label: Blanco y Negro - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 3. "You Lift Me Up" - 4. "Talk to Me Like the Sea" - 5. "British Summertime" - 8. "One Place" - 9. "Politics Aside" - 12. "Love Is Strange"

6th studio album by Everything but the Girl is the first to be entirely produced by the duo. As with most of their releases they write 4-5 tracks together, and write a few on their own respectively. It seems they have learned from their American experience with The Language of Life from 1990 and taken much of the same production sound back to record this. It's not over-produced, which I sometimes felt the 1990 album was, it's lighter and also appears to have been recorded and mixed with lesser recorded tracks. And that suits their sound. They still make use of keyboards, synths and horn sections to create a spacial sound, but it has become more focused on the compositions alone.
As much as I think the sound has improved on this, I don't find that it contains any great tracks, and stays much on the same unfulfilled level, and it makes me wish they would put aside all the synths, keyboards, the reverbs and echoing effects and just record something lesser spacious like their great Love Not Money album. All in all, it betters their 1990 album but not with a large margin.
To me, EBTG is a great band that seems caught on the wrong foot in regards to what means to arrange their music.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

Everything but the Girl "The Language of Life" (1990)

The Language of Life
release date: Jul. 31, 1990
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,16]
producer: Tommy LiPuma
label: Atlantic Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 3. "Meet Me in the Morning" - 4. "Me and Bobby D" - 6. "Take Me" - 10. "The Road"

5th studio album by Everything but the Girl this time on a new larger label and with a renowned producer, Tommy LiPuma who was well-reputed for his work with primarily American stars of contemporary r&b, jazz pop, and modern standards. This makes this another sophisti-pop album but with a smoother and warmer sound that fits them quite nicely, LiPuma succeeds in bringing back some of the trademarks from their early days when they were put aside Sade for a reason, stylistically. The album was recorded in Los Angeles and several American artists contribute on the album, eg. Omar Hakim on drums, Michael Brecker and Stan Getz on sax. Most songs are written by Ben Watt, a few was written together with Thorn, and one song, "Take Me", is written by Cecil & Linda Womack. Although, I don't find it among their best, it's neither their least interesting effort.
[ allmusic.com 2 / 5 stars ]

Everything but the Girl "Idlewild" (1988)

Idlewild
release date: May 3, 1988
format: vinyl / cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,72]
producer: Ben Watt
label: Blanco y Negro - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1 "I Don't Want to Talk About It" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "Love Is Here Where I Live" - 3. "These Early Days" - 5. "Oxford Street" - 10. "Tears All Over Town" - 11. "Lonesome for a Place I Know"

4th studio album by Everything but the Girl. It comes in at least three different versions with individual track listings. The original vinyl pressing (both British and German pressings) consisted of 11 tracks that are found here as tracks #2-12. Track #1 is something as unusual as a cover-version written and composed by Danny Whitten of Crazy Horse. On some cd issues it's enlisted as track #12.
Idlewild is luckily not just another attempt into sophist-pop but makes a return to a more simple form making it more of the natural successor to Love Not Money from 1985, thus being a much better release than the '86 album, although, the duo still seems a bit stuck in which way to choose. There are some very fine jazz pop compositions and jangle pop tunes, but it also contains tracks built in bolder symphonic sophisti-pop with mixed with funky frettless bass-lines that doesn't improve things, really; however, Watt and Thorn are back as fine songwriters, and that's nice. And when Thorn contributes with her melancholic jazz alto, it's as if anything shines that brighter.
To me, the album comes out as the duo's second best album so far.
It's the first of only two albums by EBTG to be included in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Everything but the Girl "Baby, the Stars Shine Bright" (1986)

Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

release date: Aug. 1986
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,96]
producer: Tracey Thorn, Ben Watt, Mike Hedges
label: Blanco y Negro - nationality: England, UK

3rd studio album by Everything but the Girl is a move into more sugary sophisti-pop with stress under pop. All songs are as usual credited either the two together or solely Watt or Thorn. Gone are the jangle pop and jazz elements, and it's a clone of swing, big band, and pop soul with lots of violins, brass, and... marimbas.
I have tried to like it, but fail each time - and I think of it as their perhaps least interesting release ever. Not even the front cover is any good. This is really difficult to like.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

Everything but the Girl "Love Not Money" (1985)

Love Not Money
release date: Apr. 1985
format: vinyl (BYN 3) / cd (1995 reissue)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,24]
producer: Robin Millar
label: Blanco y Negro - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: A) 1. "When All's Well" (5 / 5) - 3. "Shoot Me Down" (4 / 5) - 4. "Are You Trying to Be Funny?" (4 / 5) - - B) 1. "Ballad of the Times" (4 / 5) - 3. "This Love (Not for Sale)" - 4. "Trouble and Strife" (4 / 5) - 5. "Angel" (4 / 5)

2nd studio album by Everything but the Girl. The album introduces a change of style to their most jangle pop sounding album. As much as I liked the slow and gentle jazz pop of the earliest takes, I really prefer Tracey and Ben when they're more up-tempo as here. It's still sophisti-pop with sax and violins and in that close to a more pop soul-style embodied by Sade. The album reached number #10 on the UK albums chart list. I had listened shortly to Eden (1984), and initially found that of little interest (and first saw the debut as fine and delicate some 10-15 years later), but this was the first album I purchased with EBTG and it remains one of my top 3 favourites by the band.
The front cover features a B/W photo by British photographer John Humphrey Spender titled "Bolton Wasteland for Mass Observation", 1937.
Highly recommendable.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

Everything but the Girl "Everything but the Girl" (1984)

Everything but the Girl (compilation)
release date: 1984
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,32]
producer: Robin Millar
label: Sire Records - nationality: England, UK

US edition of the debut album also released in '84 but sometime after Eden. The album appears as a compilation as tracks #1-6 are taken from the debut album, and the remaining 6 tracks are taken from various A and B-side singles.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

Everything but the Girl "Eden" (1984)

Eden [debut]
release date: May 1984
format: vinyl / cd (RE)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,48]
producer: Robin Millar
label: Blanco y Negro - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Each and Every One" (4 / 5) - 2. "Bittersweet" - 4. "Another Bridge" - 5. "The Spice of Life" (4 / 5) - 8. "Even So" - 10. "Fascination"

Studio debut album by the duo Everything but the Girl consisting of the private partners Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn. The style is close to what Thorn had been playing in Marine Girls only Everyting but the Girl is less indie pop and more jazz-based, and the band took part of the new music scene and a style (primarily based in London) emerging in the aftermath of post-punk, new romantic and early jangle pop including Altered Images, Orange Juice, Sade, Swing Out Sisters, Prefab Sprout, The Blue Nile, The Style Council, Felt, and Aztec Camera. Despite the overall fine compositions, I have always found it interesting but also somewhat anonymous. It's really fine for background noise, conversations, book reading, or it's just the right kind of music for a lazy Sunday.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Marine Girls "Lazy Ways" (1983)

Lazy Ways

release date: Mar. 1983

format: digital (14 x File, MP3) (1987 reissue)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,76]

producer: Stuart Moxham

label: Cherry Red Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "A Place in the Sun" (official video) - 3. "Falling Again" - 4. "Love to Know" (4 / 5) - 5. "A Different Light" - 7. "Second Sight" - 8. "Don't Come Back" - 10. "Fever" - 12. "Lazy Ways"

2nd and final studio album by Marine Girls is the follow-up to Beach Party (1981). After releasing the debut, percussionist Gina Hartman left the band reduced to a trio. The album is produced by Young Marble Giants and The Gist-founder Stuart Moxham, and in many ways it signals great potential but when it finally came out, Marine Girls was a disbanded act with Tracey Thorn pursuing a solo career, she had already released her solo debut A Distant Shore (Aug. 1982) and founded Everything but the Girl with Ben Watt in the Spring / Summer of '82 - Lazy Ways was recorded in September '82.

Six songs are credited Thorn, seven are by Jane Fox, and one song (track #10) is a cover. The minimalist style remains intact but it's no longer a lo-fi product. Instead, it's acoustic indie pop with elements of jazz pop, and the album marks considerable sound improvement to that of the debut. One month after the release, the album peaked at number #4 on the UK Indie Charts, and the album became a minor hit, although, the band had ceased to exist. Apparently, Kurt Cobain included the album on his list counting his 50 top-favourite albums of all time, and it's not a strange note, as this album is such a unique manifest of musical originality and crystal clear talent. Where Beach Party appears as disguised potential, a first draft, Lazy Ways is the true gem to know of.

The front cover is from a photo of Tracey Thorn by Ben Watt.

Highly recommended.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

"Pillows & Prayers (Cherry Red 1982-1983)" (1982)

Pillows & Prayers (Cherry Red 1982-1983) (compilation)
release date: Dec. 1982
format: vinyl (Z RED 41) / digital (2000 reissue)
[album rate: 3 / 5]
producer: various
label: Cherry Red Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: A) 1. Five or Six "Portrait" - 2. The Monochrome Set "Eine Symphonie Des Grauens" - 4. Tracey Thorn "Plain Sailing" - 5. Ben Watt "Some Things Don't Matter" - - B) 1. Marine Girls "Lazy Ways" - 2. Felt "My Face Is on Fire" - 3. Eyeless in Gaza "No Noise" - 4. The Passage "XOYO" - 5. Everything but the Girl "On My Mind" - 6. Attila the Stockbroker "A Bang and a Wimpey" - 9. Quentin Crisp "Stop the Music for a Minute"

Compilation album released on Cherry Red Records as a collection of the label's artists. The album was quite well-known, perhaps mostly due to a sticker on the front cover reading "Pay no more than 99p", which ensured good promotional sales. I believe I came across the album around '85 or there about, and bought it because it features Felt, Tracey Thorn, Ben Watt, Marine Girls, and Everything but the Girl, and because the music I associated with Cherry Red were basically interesting artists.
The music is simply too diverse to make a great album, but it has its moments and mostly functions as a fine historical document. In 1984, a sequel Pillows & Prayers 2 was released in Japan only, and in 2000 both albums was issued together as Pillows & Prayers (Cherry Red 1982-1984), and with that title an award-winning 4-disc package of 3 cds and 1 dvd was released in 2007, which went on to win the 2008 MOJO Award for Catalogue Release of the Year.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]