Temperamental

by Everything But the Girl

Overview

Everything but the Girl's resurrection as a sophisticated electronica outfit may have been unpredictable, but it certainly revitalized the duo's music. Prior to 1996's Walking Wounded, Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn had taken their charming, jazzy acoustic pop as far as it could go. Adding electronica, primarily drum'n'bass and trip-hop, to the equation broke their potential wide open, as the captivating, seductive Walking Wounded proved. It was such a drastic, fulfilling departure that it did raise the question of where they go from here; its 1999 sequel, Temperamental, answers that by offering more of the same, except just a little different. Temperamental tempers the lightly skittering drum'n'bass and eliminates trip-hop, yet retains the same feel as Walking Wounded. House music -- everything from classic '80s house to contemporary house -- serves as the musical foundation, which actually opens the doors for slight jazzy inflections, along with long, hypnotizing instrumental passages (most notably on "Compression"). Weirdly, it also serves as a good setting for a batch of songs that are essentially in the singer/songwriter vein. In fact, there aren't as many clear pop hooks here as there were on Walking. "Five Fathoms," "Tempermental," and a couple of other tracks work as singles, but the album is a more of a meditative, reflective piece, like a singer/songwriter album -- except it's dressed in sultry, evocative electronic dance music. That means, of course, that Temperamental isn't all that different than its predecessor, but its blend of house, electronica, pop, jazz, and folk is equally satisfying as that landmark album. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	05/22/2020
Label:	Buzzin' Fly
UPC:	5060516092666
Rank:	21958

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Everything But the Girl   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Deep Dish   Primary Artist,Guest Artist
Tracey Thorn   Vocals
Ben Watt   Bass,Guitar,Strings,Keyboards,Scratching

Technical Credits

Sharam Tayebi   Composer
Tracey Thorn   Composer
Andy Bradfield   Mixing
Ben Watt   Beats,Composer,Producer
Deep Dish   Composer,Performer
Ali Shirazinia   Composer
Geoff Pesche   Mastering