Everything But The Girl: Fuse (Virgin)
Verdict: Worth the wait
evaluation: *****
Ian Hunter: The Challenge Part 1 (The Sun)
Verdict: Eliminates the years
evaluation: ****
Determinant: human algebra (DMF music)
The verdict: Ska pioneers are way back
evaluation: ***
When Everything But the Girl was offered the opportunity to support U2 on a US stadium tour in 1997, it sounded like their ticket to superstardom: the perfect platform to build on the success of their greatest hits album, Walking Wounded, which had hit two years earlier.
But at least one person looked at these mouthwatering prospects with dread: singer Tracy Thorne.
There must be some apprehension about how the duo’s delicate electronic sounds will work on such a large stage (maybe not very well). Furthermore, Thorne also wanted to start a family with her partner Ben Watt, her bandmate since they met as students at the University of Hull in the 1980s.
Bono’s sweet proposal was thus rejected, and Thorne and Watt moved on with their lives, with Tracy giving birth to twin girls in 1998 and a son three years later. Everything But The Girl began to fade, playing one last show in 2000 before going on a 23-year hiatus with only single LPs, books, and (in Ben’s case). As a duo, they did nothing. . . So far.
With little warning, they’re back with a new album that picks up where they left off more than two decades ago, combining Thorne’s eager voice, now richer and darker than before, with Watt’s sharp, choppy electronics.
With little warning, Everything But The Girl is back with a new album that picks up where they left off more than two decades ago, combining Thorne’s longing voice, now richer and darker than before, with Watt’s sharp, staccato electronics.
Everything But the Girl finally played a show in 2000 before taking a 23-year hiatus with only solo LPs, books, and (in Ben’s case) performances.
Fuse has its origins in lockdown—Ben made demos at home on his iPhone—but his musical soul is warm and outgoing. The album switches between dance and ballads. Nothing Left to Lose and Caution To The Wind offer a fresh spin on the electronic soul the band explored on the career-defining club mix of 1994’s Missing by New York DJ Todd Terry. Time And Time Again is a pop dance gem, and no one knows we are dancing in a dreamlike disco party.
Fork comes into its own on the slower material. The Hatfield-raised artist conveys her heartache with classic soul-belle ease, harkening back to her days as a young optimist on Run A Red Light (“They’ll All Know My Name Soon”), a song that didn’t seem out of place on the duo’s debut, Eden .
Both now 60 years old, the couple sarcastically talk about their ’empty nest’ life, as their three children have left home. Tracy sings, sympathetically, ‘Don’t be hard on yourself, for God’s sake have a cigarette, when you mess up, her voice has been modulated by auto-tuning in a sign the duo are still willing to experiment with.
Fuse ends with Karaoke, a song about a night out at a music bar that sounds like a very moody single. . . Until Thorne’s kind words cut through the gloom. “Someone tried some Dylan, but the place remained unimpressed,” she sings. “A man then erred through Elvis / Why not, I thought, why not?” You could say the same about Fuse – a return as rewarding as it is unexpected.
Both now 60 years old, the couple sarcastically talk about their ’empty nest’ life, as their three children have left home. Pictured: Performing at the Lighthouse AIDS Charity Gala in London, 1994
The idea that rock and roll is a game for youngsters is put ranting on Ian Hunter’s latest game. As frontman for Mott The Hoople, the ex-factory worker from Shropshire was a key figure in 1970s glam rock. Under David Bowie’s direction, his band had hits with Roll Away The Stone and Bowie-penned All The Young Dudes. They influenced The Clash, Blur, and Oasis.
Now 83 years old and living in New England, he’s one of rock’s top statesmen. But that hasn’t dampened his creative drive, and the star-studded support on Defiance Part 1 (a second volume in the pipeline) is testament to the high regard in which he is held.
In addition to contributions from Def Leppard’s Ringo Starr and Joe Elliott, and ZZ Top’s Billy F.
As frontman for Mott The Hoople, the ex-factory worker from Shropshire was a key figure in 1970s glam rock. Under David Bowie’s direction, his band had hits with Roll Away The Stone and Bowie-penned All The Young Dudes
The songs, written by singer and guitarist Andy York, are full of life-affirming energy. “I Still Have Fun With All The Guys,” boasts a lead vocal lead by Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash and Metallica’s Robert Trujillo. With Ringo’s support, he remembers what goes on in the shadows at Hamburg’s legendary Star-Club on Bed Of Roses.
His harsh, Dylan-esque voice may have lost some sharpness, but it still shows versatility in a sprinkling of stories, the best of which is Guernica, inspired by Picasso’s anti-war painting No Hard Feelings, about his tyrannical Scottish father. The latter features Beck and his friend Johnny Depp, providing some great rhythm guitar.
Only once, on the guitar-dominated Kiss N’ Make Up segment, does Hunter play second fiddle to one of his guests—Gibbons—and Hawkins and Elliott even chain themselves to the walking parts on This Is What I’m Here For. “When I was 30, I was over hill,” Hunter sings. “Fifty years later, I’m still killing them all.” Roll on the second volume.
Now 83 years old and living in New England, he’s one of rock’s top statesmen. But this did not dampen his creative impulse
The songs, written by singer and guitarist Andy York, are full of life-affirming energy
As leading lights in the multiracial British ska revival of the 1970s, The Selecter were featured extensively in the newly restored 1981 concert film Dance Craze, now out for the first time on Blu-ray and DVD and a fine snapshot of an era. The Coventry band continues to deliver vibrant new music too, and their 16th album whets the appetite nicely for their slot supporting Blur at Wembley Stadium on July 9.
With original vocalists Pauline Black and Arthur ‘Gaps’ Hendrickson on board, along with drummer Charley ‘Aitch’ Bembridge, it’s hard to resist their blend of staccato reggae and musically faster ska beats. The powerful title track, with a nod to Bob Marley’s Token Blues, tackles the scourge of knife crime.
Other Targets – Fake news on Big Little Lies; Guevara’s Chair Keyboard Warriors – feels a little plain, but there’s a suitably energetic tribute to the late Ranking Roger, once of Birmingham’s The Beat, on Parade The Crown. With its circular hardware giving an end-of-the-side dock feel, the groovy Not In Love With Love narrates romantic disillusionment while putting an infectious homegrown slant on Jamaican rhythms.
The Selecter kicks off their UK tour on April 26 at The Great Hall, Gillingham (seetickets.com).
The Coventry band are still delivering vibrant new music and their 16th album whets the appetite nicely for their slot supporting Blur at Wembley Stadium on 9 July
With original vocalists Pauline Black and Arthur ‘Gaps’ Hendrickson on board, along with drummer Charley ‘Aitch’ Bembridge, their blend of staccato reggae and musically faster ska beats is hard to resist. Pictured: Black and Hendrickson performing at OVO Arena Wembley in August 2022
