We are revisiting some of our favourite albums of 2023

There’s nothing left to lose. This isn’t just an existential thought regarding the world we live in these days but the thesis of the new, and wonderful, Everything But The Girl album Fuse. The electronic duo made up of husband and wife Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt have been creating sophisticated dance music since the 90s but the group came to a possible halt when Watt was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease which caused them to decide to dedicate their lives to their family and children. When the pandemic hit, which made the couple stringently isolate due to Watt’s Illness, Thorne proposed they get the band back together. The result is an amazingly beautiful collection of songs that could only be created by a couple still ultimately excited about working together. The touchstones of 90s house, that they basically created, are all here but there is a an extra layer added due to the personal nature of where they’ve been and where they are. It may be 20 plus years since we’ve heard Everything But The Girl but with their new album it feels like hearing them again for the first time.

Kicking off with opener “Nothing Left To Lose” it feels like being transported back to the 90s heyday of popular house music but there is something here that feels relevant. The duo has always been on the cusp of their genre and initially we get treated to a blast of nostalgia mixed with a purposeful punch to the present. The dubstep leaning track is a perfect reintroduction to the band. Throughout the albums ten tracks the production and Thorne’s soulful vocals take centre stage and catapult us right into their world. With the years there has been hurt. On “Lost” Thorne sings about losing her mother and because of that she “Lost it”. Over a ambient beat you feel her heartbreak and it makes you feel what she felt. It’s powerful.

The power of artistic creatively and feel doesn’t always diminish with time. Thorn and Watt both seem like the types to just regurgitate the past to pacify their fans. They are both such strong personalities and that comes through with all their music. On Fuse Everything But The Girl reestablish themselves as cutting edge purveyors of their genre. Not elder statesman but a couple who is tapped into the emotionality and substance of their true artistry.

order Fuse by Everything But The Girl HERE