Everything But The Girl – Eden (1984)

Part of that lovely revival of real songs and musicality that arrived that occurred in the early Eighties, and hailing from Hull the duo; Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt got together and took their unusual name from a shop’s slogan.  This album is quite jazzy really but still their signature sound comes through, with Tracey’s haunting and beautiful vocals dominating.   It was an almost instant mini-success reaching 14 in the UK charts – but it has gone on to sell over half a million.  The great thing about this band is they appear to just create sumptuous and warm melodies without really trying; they have always seemed to be not really trying too hard.  Both Tracey and Ben write the songs and on later albums shared more of the vocals.  Best songs on this debut are  ‘Eash and Everyone’, ‘Another Bridge’ and ‘I Must Confess’.