After making a defining piece of music news for 2022 by sharing on social media that they had recorded their first album in 24 years, the iconic UK duo of spouses Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt — a.k.a. Everything but the Girl — have come through on their word and detailed the LP, additionally dropping its lead single "Nothing Left to Lose."
Fuse will be lit on April 21 via Buzzin' Fly. It follows 1999's Temperamental.
Thorn and Watt have been a couple since 1981. They formed Everything but the Girl shortly afterward, and released 10 albums before going on hiatus in 2000. The pair have continued working on their own solo projects and collaborations — with Thorn working with the likes of John Grant, Green Gartside, and Jens Lekman — and have been married since 2008.
"After so much time apart professionally, there was both a friction and a natural spark in the studio when we began," Thorn said in a statement. "However much we underplayed it at the start, it was like a fuse had been lit. And it ended in a kind of coalescence, an emotional fusion. It felt very real and alive."
Watt added, "It was exciting. A natural dynamism developed. We spoke in shorthand, and little looks, and co-wrote instinctively. It became more than the sum of our two selves. It just became Everything but the Girl on its own."
The songs that constitute Fuse began as loose, improvisational piano sketches recorded to Watt's phone, which the duo began to craft into actual songs in March of 2021. Speaking to NME about the direction of the new album, Watt explained, "We wanted to come back with something modern-sounding. We're not out there on the heritage trail doing 'best of' tours or playing arenas. We just wanted to make a piece of work that would sound great now in 2023. That was the driver."
And they certainly accomplished that with the yearning bounce of "Nothing Left to Lose." Serving as the album's opening track, it was the final song Everything but the Girl wrote for Fuse, which Thorn attributed to their "confidence building." She told NME, "People will hear this single and assume the album is more electronic than acoustic, but there is a mixture of stuff on there."
Watch the Charlie Di Placido-directed video for "Nothing Left to Lose" below, and keep scrolling for the full album tracklist.
Fuse:
1. Nothing Left to Lose
2. Run a Red Light
3. Caution to the Wind
4. When You Mess Up
5. Time and Time Again
6. No One Knows We're Dancing
7. Lost
8. Forever
9. Interior Space
10. Karaoke
Pre-order Fuse.
Fuse will be lit on April 21 via Buzzin' Fly. It follows 1999's Temperamental.
Thorn and Watt have been a couple since 1981. They formed Everything but the Girl shortly afterward, and released 10 albums before going on hiatus in 2000. The pair have continued working on their own solo projects and collaborations — with Thorn working with the likes of John Grant, Green Gartside, and Jens Lekman — and have been married since 2008.
"After so much time apart professionally, there was both a friction and a natural spark in the studio when we began," Thorn said in a statement. "However much we underplayed it at the start, it was like a fuse had been lit. And it ended in a kind of coalescence, an emotional fusion. It felt very real and alive."
Watt added, "It was exciting. A natural dynamism developed. We spoke in shorthand, and little looks, and co-wrote instinctively. It became more than the sum of our two selves. It just became Everything but the Girl on its own."
The songs that constitute Fuse began as loose, improvisational piano sketches recorded to Watt's phone, which the duo began to craft into actual songs in March of 2021. Speaking to NME about the direction of the new album, Watt explained, "We wanted to come back with something modern-sounding. We're not out there on the heritage trail doing 'best of' tours or playing arenas. We just wanted to make a piece of work that would sound great now in 2023. That was the driver."
And they certainly accomplished that with the yearning bounce of "Nothing Left to Lose." Serving as the album's opening track, it was the final song Everything but the Girl wrote for Fuse, which Thorn attributed to their "confidence building." She told NME, "People will hear this single and assume the album is more electronic than acoustic, but there is a mixture of stuff on there."
Watch the Charlie Di Placido-directed video for "Nothing Left to Lose" below, and keep scrolling for the full album tracklist.
Fuse:
1. Nothing Left to Lose
2. Run a Red Light
3. Caution to the Wind
4. When You Mess Up
5. Time and Time Again
6. No One Knows We're Dancing
7. Lost
8. Forever
9. Interior Space
10. Karaoke
Pre-order Fuse.
