If “Nothing Left To Lose,” the first single released from “Fuse”, Everything But The Girl’s first new album in nearly a quarter-century, is anything to go by, the duo is picking up both right where they left off and smack dab in the centre of our current musical epoch. That track is a soulful banger with gobs of sub-bass that stick to the ribs and flickering synths that briefly reveal the trysts and break ups happening in the darker corners of the dance club. The rest of the record follows suit, while sliding easily into lush ambient tracks suffused with cloudy memories.
The world hardly deserved the return of Everything But The Girl this year. But Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn’s surprise new album “Fuse” was a balm for the soul in 2023. The album’s first two singles foregrounded the more club-ready aspects of their musical personality. But “Fuse’s” third single, “Run A Red Light,” burrowed deep into the melancholic heart of their best work. Watt and Thorn have always been first-rate balladeers, with a particular flair for chronicling the highs and lows of urban nightlife. “Run A Red Light” is a masterclass of the form: a portrait of reckless, drug-fuelled arrogance given a hauntingly beautiful turn by Thorn’s velvet-textured voice.
Like later-period Billie Holiday or Joni Mitchell, her vocal tone has acquired a gorgeous, lived-in quality that suits the dissolute disposition of the song’s protagonist. And Watt’s production has never felt more sympathetic, knowing precisely when to hover and when to bump. A perfect soundtrack for the 3AM of the soul, literal and otherwise.
The Fat Angel Sings 