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Editorial Reviews
Partnering again with Berlin-based producer Ewan Pearson, Tracey Thorn has created an album that is striking in its simplicity. Recorded in Berlin and London, Love And Its Opposite features contributions from Hot Chip's Al Doyle, The Invisible's Leo Taylor, Jens Lekman, Nashville songwriter-drummer Cortney Tidwell, and Lost Valentinos' guitarist Jono Ma. The tight, often undecorated arrangements for guitar, piano, bass, and drums (and a smattering of strings and woodwinds) confront the full uunvarnished weight of complex relationships in flux.
--This text refers to an alternate
Audio CD
edition.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Everything But The Girl vocalist Tracey Thorn is back with her third solo album "Love and its opposite", based she says on real life after the age of 40; Moribund relationships, divorce, getting back on the dating scene, etc. There are no electronic Dance songs like "Grand canyon" "Falling off a log", or "It's all true" this time around which I missed at first, but the songs here are very strong, warm and intimate.
Opening is the gentle piano/string ballad "Oh, the divorces!", followed by the acoustic ballad "Long white dress" with percussion building in halfway through.
"Hormones" is sunny Pop/Rock with a light Country feel, followed by the brilliant haunting ballad "Kentish town" with lovely harmonies. "Why does the wind?" is beautiful Pop/Soul, the type George Michael used to make effortlessly in the eighties. E.g. "Hand to mouth".
The tender unadorned "You are a lover" is a cover of a song by The Unbending Trees. "Singles bar" is midtempo and Country-tinged. The surreal "Come on home to me" is a cover of a song by Lee Hazlewood and features additional vocals by Jens Lekman as well as ghostly effects.
"Late in the afternoon" is the grooviest song here with gentle electronic beats, though still morose sounding, and closing is the swirling and shimmery ballad "Swimming". It's like swimming in a sea of voices and cymbals. Beautiful!
At just 10 songs, it's all over too soon.
Opening is the gentle piano/string ballad "Oh, the divorces!", followed by the acoustic ballad "Long white dress" with percussion building in halfway through.
"Hormones" is sunny Pop/Rock with a light Country feel, followed by the brilliant haunting ballad "Kentish town" with lovely harmonies. "Why does the wind?" is beautiful Pop/Soul, the type George Michael used to make effortlessly in the eighties. E.g. "Hand to mouth".
The tender unadorned "You are a lover" is a cover of a song by The Unbending Trees. "Singles bar" is midtempo and Country-tinged. The surreal "Come on home to me" is a cover of a song by Lee Hazlewood and features additional vocals by Jens Lekman as well as ghostly effects.
"Late in the afternoon" is the grooviest song here with gentle electronic beats, though still morose sounding, and closing is the swirling and shimmery ballad "Swimming". It's like swimming in a sea of voices and cymbals. Beautiful!
At just 10 songs, it's all over too soon.
17 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This is the third solo effort from the semi-retired Everything But the Girl star, now 47, on her husband Ben Watt's label.
It's a "concept album about break-up and divorce", so it is easy to understand why you do not need "dancing shoes for this heartbreaking collection of songs about how it can all go horribly wrong in middle age, whether it's because your old man is having a mid-life crisis or the kids are driving you round the bend". - Simon Cage
If Tracey's last solo album, 2007's "Out of the Woods", saw her stepping out on the dancefloor, its follow-up finds her nestled on the sofa, watching daytime soap operas and devouring fluffy, trashy, formulaic books for women.
Her lyrics leave no romantic cliché unexplored, travelling from commitment issues "(Long White Dress") to marital breakdown ("Oh! the Divorces"), via the tragedy of dating again ("Singles Bar"), the horror of realising that your teenager wears your frocks better than you do ("Hormones"), and the recurring stagnation of long-term relationships ("Swimming").
"The music, too, is the stuff of romantic comedy soundtracks: acoustic in mood, gently pulsing, shot with silvery strings, occasionally stumbling into schmaltz". - Maddy Costa
It's a grown-up record that is never boring. It's a collection of songs that are happy and sad, easy and difficult, dark and light.
Wry, clever, emotionally focused songs dissect the battlegrounds of middle age, from parenthood to divorce. With minimal electronica and stripped-back organic arrangements, Tracey's rich, smooth and crystalline voice is a perfect, poised focal point, bringing each story to genuine life and investing it with heart-snagging emotion.
My favourite tracks: "Oh, the Divorces" (a tale of separation and shared custody) and her duet with Jens Lekman, covering Lee Hazlewood's "Come on Home to Me", which is chilling in its desolation.
All in all, forget the dance floor: this is a beatifully crafted, poignant, reflective, organic album, delivered by Tracey Thorn with back-to-basics approach, honesty and the usual clarity of her disarming beautiful vocals.
Enjoy this gem of an album.
Out of the Woods
It's a "concept album about break-up and divorce", so it is easy to understand why you do not need "dancing shoes for this heartbreaking collection of songs about how it can all go horribly wrong in middle age, whether it's because your old man is having a mid-life crisis or the kids are driving you round the bend". - Simon Cage
If Tracey's last solo album, 2007's "Out of the Woods", saw her stepping out on the dancefloor, its follow-up finds her nestled on the sofa, watching daytime soap operas and devouring fluffy, trashy, formulaic books for women.
Her lyrics leave no romantic cliché unexplored, travelling from commitment issues "(Long White Dress") to marital breakdown ("Oh! the Divorces"), via the tragedy of dating again ("Singles Bar"), the horror of realising that your teenager wears your frocks better than you do ("Hormones"), and the recurring stagnation of long-term relationships ("Swimming").
"The music, too, is the stuff of romantic comedy soundtracks: acoustic in mood, gently pulsing, shot with silvery strings, occasionally stumbling into schmaltz". - Maddy Costa
It's a grown-up record that is never boring. It's a collection of songs that are happy and sad, easy and difficult, dark and light.
Wry, clever, emotionally focused songs dissect the battlegrounds of middle age, from parenthood to divorce. With minimal electronica and stripped-back organic arrangements, Tracey's rich, smooth and crystalline voice is a perfect, poised focal point, bringing each story to genuine life and investing it with heart-snagging emotion.
My favourite tracks: "Oh, the Divorces" (a tale of separation and shared custody) and her duet with Jens Lekman, covering Lee Hazlewood's "Come on Home to Me", which is chilling in its desolation.
All in all, forget the dance floor: this is a beatifully crafted, poignant, reflective, organic album, delivered by Tracey Thorn with back-to-basics approach, honesty and the usual clarity of her disarming beautiful vocals.
Enjoy this gem of an album.
Out of the Woods
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
WOW!! As a long time and very devoted fan of EBTG, I have really missed the sound of their voices and their music. This really hits the spot, and it's about time. I wish that the two of them would do another album, but this is just as good. What a BEAUTIFUL album and that voice, OMG! she just gets better and better as time goes on. Oh, The Divorces is the perfect opener to a perfect collection of music. If you are a big fan of the early EBTG, you will love this CD. This has a great mix of music for everyones taste. A few up-tempo numbers to show that she still has her groove- on and her ballads are true "Tracey Thorn". Come on Home to Me is haunting and beautifully sung, great duet with Jens Lekman. Swimming (reminds me of Driving, must be something about those"-ing" songs) and Why Does The Wind have HIT TRACKS written all over them. I couldn't be happier and more pleased than I am with this new release, I just hope they don't wait so long for the next one. LONG LIVE TRACEY THORN AND EBTG!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
One of the best of 2010
For Everything But The Girl's Tracey Thorn , middle-age is a time for first-class , bittersweet songwritting and mature reflections on relationships . Read more
Published 9 months ago by giovanni
Thank You for a great album
I was just browsing amazon for new well crafted music and came across this album.Listened to the samples and bought it right away. I also bought the EP which is excellent too.
Published 18 months ago by C. Latona
3 1/2 stars for a solid but not stellar solo effort
There's no getting around it. Most of those who will be curious about this album miss the full-fledged Ben& Tracey team of Everything But The Girl. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Eric J. Anderson
Middle Age Never Sounded So Good
It's always quite a treacherous task writing a review about a favourite artist's work. Your opinions are always in danger of being overly glowing or bitterly punitive, depending... Read more
Published 20 months ago by J. Ang
Short, but high quality
If you are familiar with Everything But the Girl, then you may like this solo effort by the female half of that duo. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Bradley F. Smith
Soft as a whisper...
Coming from a very personal place, `Love and Its Opposite' has a lot of heart (and pain) and that makes it accessible. I love this breed of folk/pop music. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Andrew Ellington
EBTG is back with only the girl
I am a huge fan of theme oriented albums, so this is a pleasant surprise for me. This is a very solid solo album from Tracey, which could easily have been an EBTG album. Read more
Published 22 months ago by javajeff
Very Good
The previous reviews are all spot on, so I have little to add except to agree. However, for those that have been patiently waiting for a new release from "A Girl Called Eddy", this... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Ricky Gomez
Unique and without comparisons
Here is an unexpected and unique CD from Tracey Thorn. Not that fans wouldn't expect a literate and gorgeously sung record but this leaves her without comparisons this year. Read more
Published 22 months ago by JBT
A GREAT return to the form of yore.
Everything But The Girl were as much a part of my teenage years as The Smiths, Cocteau Twins or Siouxsie. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Andrew Macklin
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