★★★★★
Everything But The Girl return a staggering 24 years since their previous record. Fuse is as masterful a comeback as you would hope from the enigmatic 90s duo.It started with a Tweet. At the end of last year, Tracey Thorn – one half of electro sophisti-pop duo Everything But The Girl – let her followers in on a little secret, writing: “Just thought you’d like to know that Ben and I have made a new Everything But The Girl album. It’ll be out next spring.” The opening “just thought”, combined with the tweet’s accompanying love-eye emoji, seemed to downplay the fact this new album in question is the duo’s first since 1999’s lounge dance record Temperamental. For those where maths isn’t a strongpoint: that’s 24 years ago. By the time Thorn returned to her tweet later that evening, it’d received all the affection it deserved. Yet, remarkably, this was to the singer’s surprise, as she added: “Cannot believe this outpouring of love and support and joy.”


Photo: Edward Bishop