This is the first Everything But the Girl album in 24 years, and Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt can’t blame the long absence on an acrimonious split. They’ve been a couple this whole time, too distracted by raising three children, making solo albums (four for Thorn, three for Watt), writing memoirs (four-two to Thorn) and DJing, running record labels and nightclubs (all Watt) to get together in the studio again.
Lockdown forced their hand, however, leaving them more isolated than most due to Watt’s life threatening autoimmune disease, Churg-Strauss syndrome. They began writing together at home at last, at first labelling any new music as “TREN”, for “Tracey and Ben”, to avoid any expectations that might be piled on by the old band name.
