The debut effort by multi-instrumentalist
Ben Watt
and vocalist and songwriter
Tracey Thorn
took the
alterna-pop
world by surprise in 1985. And rightfully so.
Watt
's lush
chamber orchestra
jazzscapes, full of Brazilian
bossa nova
structures and airy horn charts, combined with
Thorn
's throaty alto singing her generation's version of the
torch song
, was a sure attraction for fans of sophisticated
pop
and
vocal jazz
. Featuring 12 tracks, the album has deeply influenced popular song structures since that time; this is evidenced in the work of more
R&B
-oriented acts such as
Swing Out Sister
Tuck and Patti
. The set opens with
"Each and Everyone,"
a slow
samba
-flavored
song. The song comes from the broken side of love, with
entreating from the heart: "You try to show me heaven but then close the door...Being kind is just a way to keep me under your thumb/And I can cry because that's something we've always done." A trumpet fills her lines and makes them glide above
's
Latin
mix. Elsewhere, the
folk
bossa
of
"Fascination"
is all the architecture
needs to sink deep into her protagonist's brokenness. Guitars chime and stagger one another, slipping and sliding just above the bassline, and vanish into thin air. On
"I Must Confess,"
a riff similar to
"The Girl From Ipanema"
locates
next to a deep ringing upright bass and
's glissando guitar, played
Charlie Byrd
-style, before
Nigel Nash
punctures
's vocal with a velvety tenor solo. Once again, the notion of loss, memory, and the resolve of the left half of a relationship to go on, carrying regret but not remorse, is absolutely breathtaking.
continually meditated on broken relationships here, and that extended tome, which echoes through every song on the record, seems to have resonated with everyone who heard it. The set closes with
's vocal on
"Soft Touch,"
a folksy
song, illustrated with guitars, a fretless bass, and piano, that sounds like something from
Supertramp
in their better moments -- and no, that's not a bad thing. His voice -- while not nearly as dramatic as
's -- is wonderfully expressive, and his lyrics extend the feeling of
Eden
to its final whisper. This set proved itself to be an auspicious debut that testified to the beginning of a long and creatively rewarding partnership that has endured. ~ Thom Jurek