TIM DE LISLE: The great survivors Everything But The Girl still conjure up 30 minutes of magic 

Everything But The Girl                                                              

Rating: ****

In life, getting back together with your ex tends not to be a wise move. In music, different rules may apply. 

Last year Tears For Fears reunited for their first new album in 18 years, Soft Cell for their first in 20, and both were on fine form. Now Everything But The Girl have made their first new album together in 23 years.

The twist is that Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn are married to each other. Is it possible to get back with your ex when they’re also your spouse?

The two of them fell in love as students at Hull University, back in the mists of 1981. They became a band a bit later, taking their name from the tagline of a Hull furniture shop. 

After graduating, they made ten electro-pop albums and had one smash hit, Missing. They had just the right amount of success: while never collecting a Brit award, they were consistent winners in the game of acclaim.

Back in pop’s orbit: Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt

Magic: Thorn and Watt in Munich in 1986

Then came twin daughters, followed by a son, and EBTG seemed to come to a silent end. They brought up the kids, made solo albums and wrote books.

Watt and Thorn had always danced to their own drum. It took them only a year to get engaged, but another 26 years to get married; 15 years to build a body of work, and 23 to keep it on hold. Now here they are, back in the fray, both aged 60.

When you re-enter pop’s orbit, you have to time it right. EBTG’s sound, which might have been dated a decade ago, feels current again, slotting in somewhere between James Blake and The Anchoress.

The comeback got off to a flawless start. They announced the album title, Fuse – clearly the work of a writer or two, packing several meanings into one syllable – and released Nothing Left To Lose, their snappiest single since Missing. 

Its pulsating electronic soul sets the tone here and draws you into their world. This is a proper album, although, if you get it on vinyl, you may play side one more than side two, where the lyrics get a little too listy.

There’s about half an hour of magic, conjured up by three enduring assets: the sparse elegance of Watt’s synths, the steely subtlety of Thorn’s voice, and the chemistry between them. It feels as if they can finish each other’s chord sequences.