EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL
WE MISSED YOU
(LIKETHE DESERTSMISS THERAIN)
FOR YEARS TRACEY THORN AND BEN WATT LOOKED LIKE THEY’D LEFT EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL BEHIND IN THE 20TH CENTURY, BUT THEIR NEW ALBUM, FUSE, CONFIRMS THAT THEIR FIRE IS STILL BURNING
WYNDHAM WALLACE
Originally billed as TREN, Fuse was recorded in secret at home and in a riverside studio just outside Bath
© Edward Bishop
“WE ONLY EVER SAID WE WERE PAUSING FOR A WHILE. THEN SO MUCH TIME PASSED IT BEGAN TO SEEM A BIT UNLIKELY AND IMPROBABLE.”
TRACEY THORN
It’s a sunny afternoon in early March, and Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt are huddled around an iPad in their London home,doingsomethingthat,forthelasttwo decades, maybe more, has seemed almost unthinkable. It’s 41 years since they announced Everything But The Girl’s arrival with their debut single, a deft cover of Cole Porter’s Night And Day, but since 2000 they’ve been on a hiatus which has now lasted considerably longer than their collaborative career. And yet, here they are, on yet another Zoom call, relishing effusive praise from another excitable critic for their wonderful new record, Fuse. It’s as if the old days never ended, though it must surely be at least a small weight off their minds, too.
“It’s our divine right!” Thorn laughs with mock indignation.“Of kings!” Watt adds, completing her sentence, as they’ll do several times for one another over the next hour. Then they collapse into laughter.
To be fair, they’ve got plenty of reasons to smile. Fuse is even better than anyone had a right to foresee, with two tracks – Nothing Left To Lose and Caution To The Wind – which will please everyone seduced by their biggest hit, Todd Terry’s 1995 Missing remix, as well as another eight, more downtempo tunes displaying the wit, sophistication and melodic vigour of their finest work, before and after. Admittedly, they never ruled out a revival and, as a couple who got together even before they were a band, it’s not like the conversation can’t have come up at times. Still, both have seemed content to focus on other activities, whether that’s their solo careers, writing books, running a label, DJ-ing, making guest appearances on other records, and even, in Watt’s case, birdwatching. Then there’s the small matter of raising a family together.
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