Everything But The Girl: Fuse track by track review
Here are our thoughts on the new album from Everything But the Girl.
Date published: 21st Apr 2023
Everything But The Girl are back and it has been a long, long time since their last album, 24 years in fact. The duo of Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn ended EBTG in 1999 but have decided that now was the right time to come back and the new record is called 'Fuse'. Here are our track-by-track thoughts.
Nothing Left To Lose
Immediately we're greeted by a droning beat that drives the song forward. The vocals feel gospel-like in nature and the droning sound only grows more and more immediate. "I set fire to my pride" we hear as our protagonist describes being at a point where anything could happen.
Run A Red Light
The piano dominates this track, as we immediately see Thorn's vocals isolated as if a spotlight was following her around on her daily business. It's a song that appeals to the want to break the rules for a while, and do all the things that you normally wouldn't do but have always been inclined towards.
Caution To The Wind
It's time to escape on 'Caution To The Wind'. The subtly oscillating beat comes further into the foreground, eventually transforming into something new entirely. Rooted in a fusion of dance music and pop, there's so much groove in the strobe light sound that they gracefully craft.
When You Mess Up
"Don't be so hard on yourself" muses Thorn, casually offering a drink and a cigarette as space for a reprieve from yourself. It's all part of a set-up that feels distinctively dramatic. Thuds of the drum enhance the lyrical moments, as the instrumentals orbit around the words.
Time and Time Again
The dynamic here has Thorn as the storyteller in chief and Watt as the operator who helps to turn those words into a feeling, a rhythm or a groove. The two entwine here as both vocals come into play. It feels as if some of the effects we hear are made of liquid, flowing freely.
No One Knows We're Dancing
Never did anyone expect the words "Fiat Cinquecento" would be repeated multiple times in an Everything But The Girl track. The level of detail when it comes to character details here is exquisite. It's all set under a disco ball of revolving sounds too, never feeling stagnant.
Lost
There are a couple of annoyingly high vocal pitches at the start but nothing too disastrous. We hear of someone who has lost all sense of prospect and future, losing the plot in the end. It follows the slow cycles of loss that occur in our lives, ready to destabilise us at a moment's notice.
Forever
These songs have a great sense of multitudes to them. They could be played in the club, at home and wouldn't be out of place being blasted out in Ibiza such is the genre blend that they achieve. 'Forever' sees the duo searching for something to hold onto.
Interior Space
A song that feels haunted in places, the sound reverberates around eerily and Thorn's vocals feel as if they're in another realm. One of the shorter tracks on the album it still undoubtedly has room to leave an impression.
Karaoke
The synths find their way back in amongst a stuttering kick of the percussion. Reminiscing about a night in a karaoke bar, Bob Dylan and Elvis are the impressions of the night. We spend our time following Thorn looking for the party starters and analysing all of those around her. There's a real warmth here as we explore this memory which has frozen in place around us.
Overall, it is a welcome return for Everything But The Girl. A duo who are perfectly in sync with each other, they use their sound of great space and subtlety to explore the things that we want out of life. Where are we going? What do we want and how should we get there? All of these questions are considered under an umbrella that greats us with sounds of electronic, house and pop all placed together in harmony.
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