エヴリシング・バット・ザ・ガール、24年ぶりのスタジオ・アルバム!

1982年結成、これまでに10枚のアルバムをリリース。1999年のアルバム『Temperamental』を最後に活動を停止してから約24年、11枚目となるオリジナル・アルバムが完成!
家庭を守りながらそれぞれソロ・アーティストとしても活動し、ベンは自身のレーベルBuzzin' Flyでハウス/エレクトロニカを追及し、レーベル・オーナーとしても成功する中、2021 年の春から夏にかけて制作。
バンドが 90 年代半ばに初めて開拓した艶やかなエレクトロニック・ソウルを現代的にアレンジ!
サブ・ベース、シャープなビート、ハーフライトのシンセ、空虚な空間からなるワットのきらめくサウンドスケープの中で、ソーンの印象的で豊かな質感の声が再び前面に出ており、これまで同様、現代的、同時代的なサウンドでありながらエイジレスなバンドのサウンド!

発売・販売元 提供資料 （2023/02/03）

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 doesnt 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 arent interested in dwelling in the past. The Overmono-like taut beats and vibrating bass of marvelous lead single "Nothing Left to Lose" plunk EBTGs sound firmly into 2023, yet the sparse, clear production makes it unmistakable that Thorns 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 shes 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 duos earlier jazz-pop sound without re-creating it. Thats 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 Thorns urgent "call me" pleas. Most excitingly, the midtempo, shaker-heavy rhythm of "Forever" sounds inspired by South Africas 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 havent lost their touch for pairing up-to-date music with relevant, affecting subject matter. ~ Paul Simpson

Rovi