It has been three years since the release of Everything But The Girl's 1996 milestone album, Walking Wounded, but Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn are finally following it up with their ninth studio album entitled Temperamental.
INTERIM
The early part of the three intervening years was filled by the ninety-date Walking Wounded World Tour that took them to fifteen countries and lasted over a year, ending in Japan in April 1997. Ben then promoted his autobiographical book, Patient - a campaign that eventually took him to the States for the book's 1997 US publication. Since then there have been two collaborations - Tracey made a low-key appearance singing a song on the 1997 debut album by rising drum n bass star, Adam F, and more recently she and Ben teamed up with Washington DC house specialists, Deep Dish, to co-write and feature on one of the crossover club hits of 1998, The Future Of The Future. And in 1998 Ben produced, programmed and performed on two tracks for the second album by Beth Orton, `Central Reservation'. He has also recently provided two instrumental tracks for the forthcoming Hal Hartley fiIm, The Book of Life, starring Martin Donovan and PJ Harvey.
NEW ALBUM INFLUENCES
But perhaps most importantly for the duo's own music, Ben undertook a period of sustained underground club DJing, that began as a diverting passion but started to take him closer and closer to the sound he and Tracey realized they wanted for their next album. Ben says: "I was proud of the new ground we broke with Walking Wounded but I saw that we wanted to get to the next level - similar grooves and detailed songs but finding room for deeper, fatter sounds and beats. Regular DJing opened my ears to such possibilities."
In 1996 and 1997 Ben played drum n bass and freestyle DJ sets across America, and took over Howie B's slot at West London's eclectic Sunday nighter at The Paradise By Way Of Kensal Green. He then took up two proper residencies in London - the first spinning drum n bass at Bar Rumba's 1997 Friday night breakbeat session, Transition, and then shifting tack, opening his own hugely successful current Sunday evening session of deep house, Lazy Dog, in April 1998 at Notting HilI Arts Club. Lazy Dog was set up with friend and DJ partner, Jay Hannan, who until early 1999 was house music guru and shop manager at London's seminal dance music shop, Black Market Records. Ben's drum n bass sets have led to several guest spots at two of London's foremost authentic drum n bass nights, Swerve and Movement, whilst Lazy Dog is currently packed with deep house lovers every Sunday.
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