Send "Tracey Thorn " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Popmatters |
 The backstory goes like this: Back in the summer of 2010, the English indie rock band the xx asked Tracey Thorn and her ex-Everything But the Girl bandmate Ben Watt to record a song from the xx’s debut album. The xx’s aim was to commission covers of all the songs on the record. However, the situation changed when the xx won the Mercury Prize in September 2010. The prestigious award, given by industry professionals for the best album from the United Kingdom and Ireland, raised the xx’s profile and sent the band on other projects—including an international tour. Meanwhile, Thorn sang and recorded the plaintive “Night Time” with Watt on guitar and background vocals and production by Thorn’s current produce Ewan Pearson. She has decided to release it on an EP along with three remixes of her song “Swimming” from her most recent solo disc Love and Its Opposite. “Night Time” and all the versions of “Swimming” do have a similar vibe, so packaging them together makes aural sense. Thorn’s efforts, with and without Everything But the Girl, have always relied on atmospherics. She created a kind of sophisticated dance music that seemed suited for those with pretensions, but who were insecure about them. That’s a description, not a put down, because the music filled a need for those wanted to escape from their personal and social situations. The music conveyed the unfocused yearning we all have for something more and celebrates our shared sense of desire to escape from the mundane—if only for the length of a song....full text |
| Residentadvisor |
| Night Time sees Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn working together again for the first time in ages. The result is a cover of The xx track of that name, one that was originally slated to appear on a covers album of the Mercury Prize-winning Londoners' debut record (the project was eventually shelved). But while it's catch-your-breath beautiful, exhibiting the same sparse beauty of the original, it's the three dance floor-oriented reworkings of Thorn's own "Swimming" that will most grab the attention of RA readers. First up, Thorn's long-term producer and crack remixer in his own right, Ewan Pearson, re-edits last year's Visionquest remix of "Swimming" (do two remixes make an unremix?). The result is nine minutes of panoramic, slow-burning, twinkling, downtempo house. Two more "Swimming" reworkings come courtesy of stalwart Sheffield house producer Charles Webster. The remix is an elegant, chugging slice of linear deep house, replete with tick-tock beats and daubs of mournful keys. The airy dub drifts off into a cotton wool world of woozy percussion and minimal snatches of analogue keys, Thorn's vocal now little more than a ghostly hint in places, tumbling to the floor like autumn leaves....full text |
| Ibiza-voice |
| T he result of a broken down project undertaken for Mercury Prize winning band The xx, Tracey Thorn’s Night Time EP on Strange Feeling is simply a real treat for music fans. Not only does it involve a cover of The xx’s ‘Night Time’ recorded by Tracey Thorn and partner Ben Watt (their first recorded collaboration for over ten years) but it also includes a Ewan Pearson re-edit of Visionquest’s remix of ‘Swimming,’ one of the club anthems of last year in addition to a brace of beautiful remixes from the inimitable Charles Webster. As fans of Everything But The Girl, London band The xx approached Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt back in the summer of last year to be possible collaborators for a special compilation of cover songs the band were commissioning by their favourite artists. Unfortunately the compilation never happened but Tracey and Ben had already recorded their own re-interpretation of Night Time which now sees the light of day on their very own label. Tracey applies her stunning vocals to ease yet beauty into the original lyrics as Ben Watt guests on guitars, stretching the hook into a continuous line whilst at the same time adding more depth to the track by applying hushed backing vocals. Fresh from producing Tracey’s latest album, Love and Its Opposite, Ewan Pearson is at the controls of the drums and programming, to add crisp drums and atmospheric synths. The trio have managed to create a cover version that adds their own inventive sound to a well known track but in a soft and subtle way that pays homage to The xx’s original. E wan Pearson is then back on hand to offer his re-edit of Visionquest’s remix of ‘Swimming’ taken off Tracey’s album from last year. The Detroit natives turned the track into a true end of night, club anthem just as Ewan injects new personality into that remix. New drum parts add more energy in a remix that seems to increase momentum and provide a cinematic landscape at the same time. House legend Charles Webster provides two reworks of ‘Swimming’ himself. First he turns in a percussive mix that jangles with beautiful melodies and relaxed keys before closing the EP off with a dub version that is awashed in a trickling, autumnal sound that captures the true essence of the original....full text |
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