Idlewild - Everything But The Girl

Just four years after the release of their debut album Eden, Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt, collectively known as Everything But The Girl released their fourth studio album Idlewild in 1988. The first three albums had all been completely different. Eden with its Jazz and Soul influences, the follow up album, Love Not Money, with its songs about social and political issues, and the third album the glitzy, showbiz, Burt Bacharach style songs with their country influences that found themselves on the album, Baby The Stars Shine Bright. It would have been difficult to try and guess what direction the duo would head off into next, but the truth is with ...

As a music fan with wide-ranging tastes - normally some considerable distance from the mainstream - it always seems to take people a little by surprise when I announce EBTG as my favourite band. Those my age regard them as fey, under-achieving, slightly middle of the road student types, while younger music fans know them principally for their (admirable but not always succesful) ventures into House and drum and bass. I've always loved EBTG, even from their very first solo efforts on Cherry Red, when they were just meeting at university to start their long-running musical and domestic partnership. Idlewild, their fourth studio album, is my personal ...