Everything But The Girl : Releases >>
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Walking Wounded >>
Purists on both sides scoffed, but EBTG's transition from bedsit folkies to club favourites was one of the artistic coups of its year. Ben Watt had admitted that their previous album in 1994, Amplified Heart, seemed lacklustre, the work of a band trapped by its format, and he sought an outlet for his burgeoning love of dance music. Encouraged by the chart success of Todd Terry's remix of that album's "Missing", and by partner Tracey Thorn's collaboration with Massive Attack, the pair took the plunge setting their melancholy vignettes of love-gone-wrong to discreet electronics, and recruiting an impressive roster of drum & bass producers (Omni Trio, Howie B, Spring Heel Jack) to assist with the update. The result was their most cohesive and satisfying collection since Idlewild, an extraordinary return to form that sounded nothing like their earlier work. Tracks like "Single" and "Big Deal" covered familiar lyrical terrain (loneliness, nostalgia, unrequited passion), but allied the material to a radically more contemporary sound. Yet, as ever, the real coup was not any piece of studio trickery, but Thorn's languid, sensuous vocals. Rarely has heartbreak seemed so enticing. --Andrew McGuire
The Platinum Collection >>
Eden >>
Everything but the Girl hit the ground running with their first album, Eden; in some ways, they wouldn't equal the effort again for years. Though both Tracy Thorn and Ben Watt learned how to use their voices to better effect over the years, their vocal talents are evident here. Singing over a gentle, tropical-toned combo, Thorn sounds strong and free, and, when the occasion calls for it, vulnerable. Watt may be a little melodramatic on "Tender Blue", but the affecting "Soft Touch" more than makes up for it. Meanwhile, "Another Bridge" presages "Me and Bobby D" (from The Language of Life); "The Dustbowl" succinctly captures a post-break-up reflection with only a modicum of regret; "Frost and Fire" reaches out from daughter to mother; and "I Must Confess" neatly sambas its way out of a finished relationship. Mature, intelligent, and unflinchingly romantic, it ranks among EBTG's best work. --Randy Silver
Baby, The Stars Shine Bright >>
The Works >>
Idlewild >>
Everything but the Girl have always taken a languid approach to their music, but they were at their most sublime on Idlewild. Produced by the duo's own Ben Watt, the music is stripped down to the bare minimum--a rhythm, a melody and Tracy Thorn's divine voice--yet somehow they make it feel lush. Some of EBTG's most affecting songs are on Idlewild: Thorn's adolescent reminiscence in "Oxford Street"; "The Night I Heard Caruso Sing", Watt's ode to father and (someday) son in which he explains that the great tenor is "almost as good as Presley"; the tale of friendship in "Blue Moon Rose" and "Apron Strings", a song of love and loss. EBTG are just as touching on Amplified Heart and the US-only Acoustic but Idlewild is a classic in its own right. -- Randy Silver
Adapt or Die - Ten Years of Remixes >>
The Best of Everything But the Girl >>
Everything but the Girl (Ben Watt and ex-Marine Girl Tracey Thorn) have gone through two distinct phases in their career--they spent most of it as an acoustic, folky duo with some occasional lounge accompaniment, but after a Todd Terry remix of Amplified Heart's "Missing", they veered toward the dance floor. "Best of" tries to encapsulate all of that in 15 tracks and while it brings together many of the essential songs--the remix of "Missing", "Apron Strings", "Rollercoaster", "I Don't Want To Talk About It" and even Thorn's guest vocal on Massive Attack's "Protection"--it also has a lot of holes. There are only 10 tracks from EBTG's entire nine album pre-remix career and none that feature Watt as vocalist; also missing is Thorn's guest slot on the Style Council's "Paris Match" (from Café Bleu). As a slightly lopsided introduction to EBTG, this collection is fine but you might do better buying a few albums instead (start with Amplified Heart, Idlewild, and Walking Wounded). --Randy Silver
Amplified Heart >>
Amplified Heart marked a number of changes in Everything but the Girl's career, the most obvious of which was their sudden popularity when a Todd Terry remix of "Missing" became a dance-floor hit. But before the album was even recorded, Ben Watt--who with Tracy Thorn is EBTG--was hospitalized for a life-threatening intestinal disorder (see his book, Patient: The True Story of a Rare Illness, for a full account). His recovery invigorates Amplified Heart, making the love songs that much more passionate, the relationship songs that much more tender, and "25th December"--the one song in which Watt sings lead--that much more heartbreaking. Thorn's captivating vocals are the focus on the rest of the album, and she's as smooth as ever; combined with the focus that she and Watt share here, it makes for EBTG's best album. --Randy Silver
The Language Of Life >>
By the time The Language of Life was released, Everything but the Girl had reached a point in their career where they could get accomplished jazz musicians Joe Sample, Michael Brecker and Stan Getz to play on their album and not have it perceived as an affectation: The duo had already made five albums that showcased Ben Watt's ability to write a classic melody and Tracey Thorn's silky vocals. In working with producer Tommy Lipuma, they made an album of superficially perfect love songs-- beautiful tunes all, but overproduced to the point where the feelings behind them are only rarely glimpsed. There are some great songs, though--"The Road", "Driving", "Me and Bobby D" and "Imagining America" are some of the best in EBTG's distinguished catalogue--and they manage to make Language a worthy album despite the shortcomings. --Randy Silver