In January, there was a miracle: Everything But The Girl announced a new album - their first in 24 years - and released a new single, Nothing Left to Lose.
The reaction was huge, not only from 90s clubbers who had their album Walking Wounded on repeat but also from younger fans of electronica and dance.
Singer Tracey Thorn, 60, and her musician husband Ben Watt, also 60, went on hiatus in 2000 and continued as solo artists. They explain the decision to resurrect their musical partnership and talk about their 11th album, Fuse, which is released next Friday.
After so long not being in the group, what brought you together?
Ben: Things changed after the pandemic. It was quite impactful on many people and certainly was on us. I was isolating and shielding because of an autoimmune condition (in 1992 he was diagnosed with Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis and had to have about 75 per cent of his small intestine removed). We both had to stop big work projects. I had to cancel a solo tour and Tracey was about to go on the promo trail for her new book. When we got back to normality, it made us think, “Do we go back to what we were going or are we changed by this?” We both felt a bit changed and Tracey said: “Why don’t we work together again? If we don’t do it now, we might never do it.” I took a little longer to come round to it but gradually realised it was a really nice thing to do. We didn’t tell anyone, just started working together in a room, which we hadn’t done in years.
Tracey: It was a lot easier than we thought it might be. Perhaps we had become a bit frightened of doing it because there seemed to be so much baggage resting on it. We just had to push through and think, ‘What’s the worst that can happen?’ We were both grateful for the input from each other. Perhaps we had fulfilled that need to express ourselves individually.
What did your children – twins Jean and Alfie born in 1998 and son Blake in 2001 – make of seeing their parents working together again?
Tracey: It’s something they have never experienced as our career happened before their time. In recent years they have become more aware of it. There’s a resurgence of interest among their age group in late 90s music so they had been to parties and heard tracks from Walking Wounded.
How amazed were you at the reaction to comeback single Nothing Left to Lose?
Tracey: We didn’t know what to expect and it has been incredible. When we started, it was in the spirit of just making music for the pleasure of doing it and thinking, “If it doesn’t work out, no one ever needs to know”. There was no one breathing down our necks waiting for an album so we thought we might quietly record three or four songs then look at each other and go, “Hmm, you know what, let’s leave it there”. If we came up with three good songs, we could put out an EP. Or if we came up with one good song, maybe we’d put it out as a one-off single. But after going to the studio and hearing what we’d recorded at home, we realised it was good. We sat up a bit taller and got excited. Then we upped our game and became a bit more determined to make a good record. By the time we’d finished the 10 tracks that make up the album, we’d astonished ourselves. We’d made an album that stands up alongside where we left off.
What was the first song you finished?
Tracey: When You Mess Up. Ben had the piano part and I began writing lyrics. There was a moment when we sang it and I went, “Do you know we’ve just written our first song in 23 years?”
Ben: That track was a template of how we could go on and do other tracks.
Did the EBTG sound return easily?
Tracey: It surprised us how quickly it did and we realised there was a strong identity to the sound. Once we knew we hadn’t forgotten the key ingredient, we added production ideas.
Will you be touring and, of course, come to Glasgow – your dad’s home city, Ben?
Ben: No, we’re not touring. The plan was always to do a studio project only. Touring always means having to revisit your past, play the hits, be - for want of a better word - an entertainer, and really all we just wanted to do was make something fresh and new. When I come to Glasgow and meet the few relatives still alive on my dad’s side of the family, I do feel a connection.
● Everything But The Girl’s new album, Fuse, is out on Friday, April 21.
