ADRIAN THRILLS: After 23 years, Everything But The Girl return with a five-star comeback… We’ve missed you! (like the deserts miss the rain)

EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL: Fuse (Virgin)

Verdict: Worth the wait

Rating: *****

IAN HUNTER: Defiance Part 1 (Sun)

Verdict: Rolls away the years

Rating: ****

THE SELECTER: Human Algebra (DMF Music)

Verdict: Ska trailblazers bounce back 

Rating: ***

When Everything But The Girl were offered the chance to support U2 on a U.S. stadium tour in 1997, it seemed like a ticket to superstardom: the perfect platform on which to build on the success of their biggest album, Walking Wounded, which had arrived two years earlier.

But at least one person viewed the mouthwatering prospect with dread: singer Tracey Thorn.

There must have been some apprehension about how the duo’s subtle electronic sounds would work on such a big stage (probably not that well). Beyond that, though, Thorn also wanted to start a family with partner Ben Watt, her bandmate since they met as students at the University Of Hull in the 1980s.

And so Bono’s kind offer was rejected, and Thorn and Watt got on with their lives, Tracey giving birth to twin girls in 1998 and a son three years later. Everything But The Girl began winding down, playing a final show in 2000 before taking a 23-year hiatus interrupted only by occasional solo LPs, books and (in Ben’s case) DJ work. As a duo, they did nothing . . . until now.

With little warning, they are back with a new album that picks up from where they left off more than two decades ago, combining Thorn’s yearning voice, now richer and duskier than before, with Watt’s sharp, stuttering electronics.

With little warning, Everything But The Girl are back with a new album that picks up from where they left off more than two decades ago, combining Thorn’s yearning voice, now richer and duskier than before, with Watt’s sharp, stuttering electronics

Everything But The Girl played a final show in 2000 before taking a 23-year hiatus interrupted only by occasional solo LPs, books and (in Ben’s case) DJ work

Fuse has its origins in lockdown — Ben made rough demos at home on his iPhone — but its musical spirit is warm and outgoing. The album skips between dance and ballads. Nothing Left To Lose and Caution To The Wind offer a fresh spin on the electronic soul the band explored on the career-defining club mix of 1994’s Missing by New York DJ Todd Terry. Time And Time Again is a dance-pop gem, and No One Knows We’re Dancing a nostalgic, dreamlike disco romp.

Thorn comes into her own on the slower material. The Hatfield-raised performer conveys heartache with the ease of a classic soul belle, harking back to her days as a young hopeful on Run A Red Light (‘They’ll all know my name soon’), a ballad that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on the duo’s mellow debut, Eden.

Both now 60, the pair wryly address the lives of ‘empty nesters’, with their three children having all left home. ‘Don’t be so hard on yourself, for God’s sake have a cigarette,’ sings Tracey, sympathetically, on When You Mess Up, her voice tweaked by auto-tune in a sign the duo are still willing to experiment.

Fuse finishes with Karaoke, a song about a night in a music bar that feels like one moody ballad too far . . . until Thorn’s droll words punch through the gloom. ‘Someone tried some Dylan, but the place remained unmoved,’ she sings. ‘A guy then goofed through Elvis / Why not, I thought, why not?’ You could say the same of Fuse — a comeback as rewarding as it is unexpected.

Both now 60, the pair wryly address the lives of ‘empty nesters’, with their three children having all left home. Pictured: Playing at the Lighthouse AIDS Charity Concert in London, 1994

The notion that rock and roll is a young person’s game is put noisily to the sword on Ian Hunter’s latest. As frontman of Mott The Hoople, the former factory worker from Shropshire was a key figure in 1970s glam rock. Mentored by David Bowie, his band had hits with Roll Away The Stone and the Bowie-penned All The Young Dudes. They influenced The Clash, Blur and Oasis.

Now 83 and living in New England, he is one of rock’s elder statesmen. But that has not dampened his creative drive, and the star- studded support cast on Defiance Part 1 (a second volume is in the pipeline) is testament to the high esteem in which he’s held. 

As well as contributions from Ringo Starr, Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott and ZZ Top’s Billy F. Gibbons, the sessions for this album contained what are thought to be the final recordings of both Jeff Beck and Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.

As frontman of Mott The Hoople, the former factory worker from Shropshire was a key figure in 1970s glam rock. Mentored by David Bowie, his band had hits with Roll Away The Stone and the Bowie-penned All The Young Dudes

Written in lockdown by the singer and his guitarist Andy York, the songs bristle with life-affirming energy. ‘I’m still frolicking with all the young dudes,’ he boasts on a title track driven along by Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash and Metallica’s Robert Trujillo. Backed by Ringo, he reminisces about shady goings-on in Hamburg’s legendary Star-Club on Bed Of Roses.

His gruff, Dylan-esque voice may have lost some sharpness, but he still shows versatility on a sprinkling of ballads, the best being Guernica, inspired by Picasso’s anti-war painting, and No Hard Feelings, about his domineering Scottish father. The latter features Beck and sidekick Johnny Depp, who provides some accomplished rhythm guitar.

Only once, on the slide guitar-dominated Kiss N’ Make Up, does Hunter play second fiddle to one of his guests — Gibbons — with even Hawkins and Elliott restricting themselves to walk-on parts on This Is What I’m Here For. ‘When I was 30, I was over the hill,’ sings Hunter. ‘Fifty years later, I still kill them all.’ Roll on volume two.

Now 83 and living in New England, he is one of rock’s elder statesmen. But that has not dampened his creative drive

Written in lockdown by the singer and his guitarist Andy York, the songs bristle with life-affirming energy

As leading lights of the multi-racial British ska revival of the 1970s, The Selecter feature extensively in the newly-restored 1981 concert film Dance Craze, now out for the first time on Blu-ray and DVD and a superb snapshot of an era. The Coventry band are still making vibrant new music, too, and their 16th album whets the appetite nicely for their slot supporting Blur at Wembley Stadium on July 9.

With original vocalists Pauline Black and Arthur ‘Gaps’ Hendrickson still on board, alongside drummer Charley ‘Aitch’ Bembridge, their mixture of loping reggae and faster ska beats is musically hard to resist. The powerful title track, with its nod to Bob Marley’s Talkin’ Blues, addresses the scourge of knife crime.

Other targets – fake news on Big Little Lies; keyboard warriors on Armchair Guevara – feel a little too obvious, but there’s a suitably energetic tribute to the late Ranking Roger, once of Birmingham band The Beat, on Parade The Crown. And, with its carousel organ lending an end-of-the-pier feel, the excellent Not In Love With Love chronicles romantic disenchantment while putting an infectious homegrown slant on the rhythms of Jamaica.

The Selecter start a UK tour on April 26 at The Great Hall, Gillingham (seetickets.com).

The Coventry band are still making vibrant new music and their 16th album whets the appetite nicely for their slot supporting Blur at Wembley Stadium on July 9

With original vocalists Pauline Black and Arthur ‘Gaps’ Hendrickson still on board, alongside drummer Charley ‘Aitch’ Bembridge, their mixture of loping reggae and faster ska beats is musically hard to resist. Pictured: Black and Hendrickson performing at OVO Arena Wembley in August 2022

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