It's All True

Song: It's All True
Artist: Tracey Thorn
Album: It's All True - Single





The return of Tracey Thorn! If you don’t know Tracey, she is the lead singer for Everything But The Girl, who formed way back in 1982 in Hull, England. For most of the 80’s EBTG produced mildly successful jazz-pop and it wasn’t until 1995 that Todd Terry’s remix of “Missing,” a mostly acoustic song from 1994’s excellent “Amplified Heart” took EBTG from cult status to a band with an international cross-over hit. (“Missing” is the song that goes “I miss you… like the deserts miss the rain.”)

After that dance oriented hit, EBTG strayed away from their more acoustic/jazz sound and released the absolutely amazing trip-hop classic “Walking Wounded.” While there wasn’t a “Missing” sized hit on the album, they did release a couple of great tracks including “Single” and “Wrong.” This set the stage for what I consider their masterwork, and final (thus far) album, 1999’s “Temperamental.” It is by far one of the best dance albums ever created and pretty much set the bar for electronica in the new millennium. Sonically amazing with songs that actual touch you emotionally, “Temperamental” is grounded by Tracey’s haunting, beautiful voice. While sonically a bit different, I really feel that this album was Madonna’s blueprint for “Confessions on a Dancefloor.”

Now, eight years later (and 25 years since her last solo record!) Tracey returns with “Out of the Woods” set for release on March 5th in the U.K. “It’s All True” is the first single which was released last week on iTunes. It’s an electro-80’s style dance song that had me saying to myself “Okay…” on first listen, “Interesting” on second, and by the third it was “Wow this amazing… I love it.” Tracey’s voice is a wonder, and somehow manages to create emotional depth in dance music without resorting to diva-like runs and vocal acrobatics. (For further listening please check out “Protection” by Massive Attack, a true trip-hop classic thanks in no small part to Tracey’s vocal.)

The song reminds me of Stuart Price’s Les Rythem Digitales record “Darkdancer” from 1996. It has a French-electro vibe to it… I just can’t get enough.

Already one of my favorite new singles of 2007.

Enjoy.

And here is the odd, yet compelling, video: