People!! Tracey Thorn returns!

[sun_set_bravely]

Tracey Thorn's first solo album in 25 years will be released in March! Did anyone else know this? If so, why didn't you tell me?

Okay, I'll forgive you. I'm too excited about the new album.

In doing some MySpace searching for work today, I ran across Ben Watt's page, then found her page. I'm psyched to get the new album, which she's made without Ben. It's been five years since she recorded professionally. Everything But the Girl went on official hiatus in 2002, and she dedicated her time to raising their three kids full-time. I've always been a little curious about her decision, and their family life. I have a kind of couple-crush on them. Plus, she's a hugely successful female artist, and I'm always interested to hear how successful women integrate their family lives and their creativity.

I discovered them (besides the overplayed "Missing" I knew as a teenager) after the hiatus began, and I've been quietly hoping that she'd return. Ben's been doing some cool mixing and DJing, but his stuff doesn't grab me quite as much without her voice floating over the surface.

Her voice is otherworldly, and, for me, deeply evocative of that rich, falling-in-love-then-falling-apart time four years ago. It was her voice on "Single" and "Before Today" that gave me a self-satisfied spring in my step as I tried to lie to my heart. Later, it was her voice on "Protection" that made the golden thread between two hearts in New York and Boston thrum with hope and longing. Their compilation "Like the Deserts Miss the Rain" occupied my ears for many a Fung Wah bus trip.

It's rare that I'll schlep to the music store on the day a new CD is released. I'll do it for my favorites, like Erin McKeown or, well, I think she's about it. But I tell you what -- March 6th will see me in the "T" aisle of my nearest music store!

Comments

[oceanic.livejournal.com]

Aww, hell yeah! Post a review of it once you've had a chance to listen, will you? I loved EBTG and of course Protection, but I'm not sure what this new sound of hers is going to be like...

[rothko.livejournal.com]

dude, i *love* walking wounded.

[nickelchief.livejournal.com]

Who all is Tracey Thorn now? Educate me. Don't make me ask Google.

[sun-set-bravely.livejournal.com]

Tracey Thorn is the vocalist half of Everything But The Girl (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everything_But_the_Girl), a fantastic British dance/trip-hop band. Their biggest mainstream hit was 1994's "Missing," a decent song that was played far too much by radio stations. (It was also the song that played when Chris Kattan's Mango character on SNL appeared in people's imaginations.) She also voiced Massive Attack's song "Protection" (which also happens to be the first dance at freak1c's and my wedding).

Her partner (professional and personal) is Ben Watt. Among other things, he produced several Beth Orton tracks (on "Central Reservation").

Questions? Comments? Clarification?

Class dismissed!