Everything But The Girl – Fuse review

For a couple of years off the back of Todd Terry’s remix of Missing, Everything But The Girl became the surprise package of the dance music world, suffusing their previously acoustic melancholy with elements of drum n’ bass, house and dub. Landing at exactly the right place at the right time despite already having had a career pushing twenty five years, 1996’s Walking Wounded went platinum in the UK, contained a top ten single in Wrong and led to them being offered a support slot by U2 on their upcoming tour.

So they quit. For singer Tracey Thorn the prospect of being on stage in front of a stadium full of people was a terrifying one and following 1999’s understated Temperamental, they withdrew into the background, having a family and eventually working on lower key solo careers. For Ben Watt the idea of reviving Everything But The Girl never felt viable until it was explored by the two during lockdown – and even when they got under way the works in progress were labelled TREN (Tracey and Ben) for the purposes of keeping separation.

Preceded by the cavernous bass of Nothing Left To Lose, the duo’s first album of the century is expertly steered by Watt, whilst the bold decision to playfully warp Thorn’s voice underlines a continued open mindedness. Where Fuse differs from their past work is in the lyrical pan, a store which draws on characters buffeted by modern life’s uncertainty. Here the locked in crowd of Run A Red Light, the fallible subject of When You Mess Up and Nobody Knows We’re Dancing’s nursery-friendly ravers are all humans without a plan, their lives handled with affection and mercy.

Fuse in it’s execution is a flawless rebooting and contemporary adaptation of Everything But The Girl’s empathetic pop. Bono’s calls may not be returned this time.

You can read a full review here.