Everything But The Girl
Walking Wounded

THE REVIEW

Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn are Everything But The Girl.
United as a group after both starting with solo careers, their music was a sophisticated folk, far from the electro-pop that brought them into the spotlight in 1994 thanks to the hit Missing (from the album “Amplified Heart”).

But it was in 1996 that they delivered what I consider their gem, that Walking Wounded always characterized by melancholic atmospheres that, here, perfectly blend with the electronic trip-hop sounds that were in vogue at the time.
Was it a choice solely due to the desire to commercially exploit the situation or a real musical evolution of the group that moved from years of just vocals and guitar to electronics???

Regardless of the true intentions of EBTG, the change in direction seems appropriate.
The soft and nostalgic beats, the languid, dark sounds, the sad atmospheres seem fitting for the melodies woven by the Watt/ Thorn duo. If you add to this the alchemy generated by the splendid (albeit delicate) voice of Tracey Thorn, this work emerges from the anonymity of the productions of the time, carving out a space all its own.

One cannot fail to be enchanted by songs such as Single where a reflective and desperate Tracey asks her partner “And do you like being single? Do you want me back?” or the admirable Walking Wounded, or even Good Cop Bad Cop. It is precisely in these songs at the edge of sadness that EBTG truly excel.

Definitely an album to listen to, especially for those who love velvety and melancholic atmospheres while longing for those trip-hop sounds reminiscent of Portishead.