Everything But the Girl

There are exceptions to every rule, and Everything But the Girl provide such outliers to two; one, the suggestion that Hull is by no means a thriving cultural environment (to be fair, I’m sure the great poet Philip Larkin would also have had something to say about that), and two, that romantically involved couples shouldn’t complicate proceedings by working together professionally, too - Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt managed that just fine for eighteen years. They grew steadily in stature over that period, too; always afforded a cult following in the eighties, it wasn’t until the mid-nineties that they finally truly broke through, with penultimate album Walking Wounded their first to go platinum. That record’s success owed much to the remixed version of previous album Amplified Heart’s single ‘Missing’, with the pair heading down a more electronic route accordingly; it was that new-found mainstream popularity, though that would precipitate the band’s dissipation, with Watt admitting that he simply didn’t want to be playing to crowds of the size that were turning up to see them. Those who did, though, were treated to a beguiling spectacle, with an expanded live band providing diverse instrumentation and Thorn proving an endearingly awkward frontwoman; the pair split - only professionally, mind - in 2000, and have played down the prospect of a reunion ever since.