Fuse

by Everything But the Girl

Overview

At the beginning of Naked at the Albert Hall, one of several illuminating memoirs Tracey Thorn has published since 2013, the singer notes that she doesn't do nostalgia gigs. After she and Ben Watt turned their backs on pop stardom in 2000, performed their final concert as Everything But the Girl, and focused on raising a family together, it took several years before Thorn returned to the recording studio and restarted her solo career. With Fuse, the first EBTG album in 24 years, the duo immediately make it clear that they aren't interested in dwelling in the past. The Overmono-like taut beats and vibrating bass of marvelous lead single "Nothing Left to Lose" plunk EBTG's sound firmly into 2023, yet the sparse, clear production makes it unmistakable that Thorn's voice has roughened up a bit, even since her last solo record. This only adds more emotional weight to her lyrics, which are as thoughtful as ever, yet especially relevant for the 2020s. "Kiss me while the world decays," she exclaims at the climax of "Nothing Left to Lose," while she's reassuring and understanding during "When You Mess Up," which mentions living "in a world of microaggressions." The song makes momentary use of Auto-Tune, letting the pitch of her voice flutter upward for a few lines, and the ambient lullaby "Interior Space" shades reflections on alienation with James Blake-ian vocal processing. "Lost" is a lyrical as well as textural experiment, with Thorn listing various losses that came up as search engine results (particularly making an emphasis on "I lost my mother, then I just lost it"), while various vocal fragments and twittering glitches float around her inside a giant bubble. The calm, piano-driven "Run a Red Light" reminisces about playing shows at bars, and recalls the duo's earlier jazz-pop sound without re-creating it. That's as close to nostalgic as the album gets, though. The gently dramatic electro-pop tune "Time & Time Again" flirts with trap-influenced drum programming as a way to underline Thorn's urgent "call me" pleas. Most excitingly, the midtempo, shaker-heavy rhythm of "Forever" sounds inspired by South Africa's amapiano movement, and the bass hits just in time for the tremendous chorus: "Give me something I can hold onto forever." Fuse is nowhere near as club-friendly or single-driven as the stacked-with-hits Walking Wounded and Temperamental, but it contains the most adventurous production EBTG have ever attempted, showing that the duo haven't lost their touch for pairing up-to-date music with relevant, affecting subject matter. ~ Paul Simpson

Product Details

Release Date:	04/21/2023
Label:	Verve
UPC:	0602448946522

Tracks

1. Nothing Left to Lose
2. Run a Red Light
3. Caution to the Wind
4. When You Mess Up
5. Time and Time Again
6. No One Knows We're Dancing
7. Lost
8. Forever
9. Interior Space
10. Karaoke

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Everything But the Girl   Primary Artist
Tracey Thorn   Vocals (Background),Vocals
Ewan Pearson   Drums
Ben Watt   Piano,Synthesizer,Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
Bruno Ellingham   Percussion

Technical Credits

John Gilsenan   Artwork
Tracey Thorn   Producer,Recording Arranger,Composer
Everything But the Girl   Arranger,Producer
Ewan Pearson   Synthesizer Programming
Ben Watt   Composer,Engineer,Producer,Recording,Programming,Drum Programming,Recording Arranger,Synthesizer Programming
Bruno Ellingham   Mixing,Engineer,Recording,Programming
Miles Showell   Mastering,Mastering Engineer