Everything But The Girl have announced expanded CD editions of two of their key albums – their 1984 debut “Eden” and the million-selling “Amplified Heart” (1994) – for release this April.
Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt met while studying at the University of Hull in 1981. Thorn had already formed the DIY post-punk group Marine Girls and recorded their beloved debut album “Beach Party“. Meanwhile, experimental singer-songwriter Watt’s debut single – ‘Cant’, produced by Kevin Coyne – was released that year on Cherry Red. The pair started a side project, Everything But The Girl, and released their first EP, ‘Night And Day’ (led by a cover of the Cole Porter standard) in 1982.
After a couple of years pursuing their respective solo projects, Thorn and Watt came together again in 1984 for their debut full-length, “Eden“, a timeless set of plaintive bossa nova (No 28 single ‘Each And Every One’), shimmering indie-pop (‘Another Bridge’), wee-small-hours jazz (‘Crabwalk’) and more.
Fast-forward a decade and the pair’s seventh album, “Amplified Heart“, documented the aftermath of Watt’s near-death experience with the rare autoimmune disease Churg-Strauss syndrome.
The album’s frank and raw explorations of love and relationships were set to a stripped-back, folk-rock sound (Danny Thompson was on bass; Richard Thompson guested on lead guitar on ‘25th December’), flecked with subtle electronic flourishes. On release, “Amplified Heart” struggled to make an impact and EBTG looked set to be dropped by their label. But when the album’s second single, ‘Missing’ was remixed by house producer Todd Terry, it became a worldwide hit (No 3 in the UK, No 2 in the US), giving “Amplified Heart” a new lease of life and the band belated mainstream success.
For these new reissues, “Eden” and “Amplified Heart” have not been remastered they use the same Miles Showell mastering from the previous reissues. In terms of bonus tracks, the contents are similar to the increasingly pricey reissues from the early 2010s Edsel campaign, with slight differences.
The new-look, single CD “Eden” includes all of the B-sides and home demos from its 2012 reissue but omits the four BBC session tracks and adds their 1983 version of The Jam’s ‘English Rose’, originally recorded for the NME’s Racket Packet cassette.
Meanwhile, “Amplified Heart” is a 2CD set which, again, includes the B-sides and demos from its previous expanded reissue. It also includes two live tracks which appeared on that 2013 set – ‘Walking To You’ and ‘25th December’, both recorded at a 1994 Toronto gig – but appears to feature a further three previously unreleased live tracks. And while the 2013 set added four remixes of ‘Missing’, the new set only includes two but adds a ‘Rollercoaster’ remix.
Both reissues will come in six-panel digisleeve packaging and will include a 20-page booklet and are released on 3rd April 2026 via Chrysalis.
The Fat Angel Sings 