It is hard to find a recent decade where Tracey Thorn’s voice and song-writing has not been influential and in celebration, October 23rd 2015 sees the release of a new Tracey Thorn double-compilation album entitled ‘SOLO: Songs And Collaborations 1982-2015’.
‘This album deliberately isn’t called ‘The Best of Tracey Thorn,’ says Tracey of the collection. ‘Many might think my best work was with Everything But The Girl, or the Marine Girls, or that I should at least include some of those tracks. But with any interesting compilation you have to have a story to tell, a unifying theme, and here the idea is contained in the single word of the title, Solo.’
Tracey Thorn SOLO : Songs and Collaborations 1982 – 2015 from Caroline International on Vimeo.
‘These tracks represent,’ she goes on, ‘on one hand the moments when I was working as a solo artist outside the constraints and democracy of a band, either recording tracks entirely by myself, or at least being in the driving seat, the one making all the artistic decisions. And on the other hand, those times when I guested with other bands or producers, performing as a featured solo singer, moonlighting from my regular job.’
The album is a snapshot of a varied and acclaimed career, and vividly highlights the contrast between the introspective, acoustic songs beginning with her feted minimalist 1982 debut ‘A Distant Shore’, and the more outgoing, electronic music which saw Tracey soundtracking nights on the dancefloor in the wake of Everything But The Girl’s 90s global smash ‘Missing’. After a self-imposed hiatus to start a family, Thorn returned in 2007 with the glittering folk-disco of ‘Out of the Woods’, her first solo album for twenty-five years. The more stripped-back ‘Love And Its Opposite’ followed in 2010 and ‘Tinsel and Lights’ her alternative Christmas record was released in 2012, all three were recorded with producer Ewan Pearson.
In Tracey’s words, referring to her Sunday Times-best-selling 2013 memoir, ‘What you get here is the ‘Bedsit’ side of me sitting happily alongside the ‘Disco Queen’. I’ve worn both those hats, and though some of you may prefer one over the other, personally I love them both and never want to throw either away.’
DISC 1:
1. Oh, The Divorces!
2. Under The Ivy
3. Small Town Girl
4. Plain Sailing
5. Hands Up To The Ceiling
6. Follow Me Down
7. Goodbye Joe
8. Hormones
9. Taxi Cab
10. Sister Winter
11. Overture (THE UNBENDING TREES FEAT TRACEY THORN)
12. Kentish Town
13. By Piccadilly Station I Sat Down And Wept
14. The Paris Match (THE STYLE COUNCIL FEAT TRACEY THORN)
15. Venceremos (7″ Bossa Version) (WORKING WEEK FEAT ROBERT WYATT, TRACEY THORN and CLAUDIA FIGUEROA)
16. How Wild The Wind Blows
17. Singles Bar
18. The Book Of Love
19. Late In The Afternoon
20. Joy
DISC 2:
1. Protection (7″) (MASSIVE ATTACK FEAT TRACEY THORN)
2. Easy
3. Better Things (MASSIVE ATTACK FEAT TRACEY THORN)
4. Night Time
5. Raise The Roof (Beyond The Wizard’s Sleeve Re-animation)
6. You Are A Lover (Clock Opera Remix)
7. It’s All True (Escort Extended Remix)
8. Grand Canyon (Ada Remix)
9. Why Does The Wind? (Morgan Geist Remix)
10. Damage (TIEFSCHWARZ FEATURING TRACEY THORN)
11. Without Me (Tevo Howard Radio Edit) TEVO HOWARD FEAT TRACEY THORN
12. King’s Cross (Hot Chip Remix)
13. Swimming (Visionquest Remix)
14. The Tree Knows Everything (ADAM F FEAT TRACEY THORN)
Be the first to comment