The arrangements are mostly spare, featuring Thorn on guitar and piano with occasional strings and tasteful accompaniment (Idlewild bassist Steve Pearce contributes to the vintage EBTG mood). Scritti Politti’s Green Gartside (whose "Sun in Snow" Thorn covers) also appears in a duet on Low’s "Taking Down the Tree." Less successful is Jack White’s "Cold Cold Night," set in a tame blues that doesn't much suit her voice. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" would seem a natural for Thorn, but its perennial melancholy doesn’t rise to the heights of the less familiar material. The title original, "Tinsel and Lights," is a mournful first-person story of a New York Christmas, a sad reminder of what one hopes will be a recovered city by the holidays.
"A sinister cabal of superior writers."
Article comments
1 - Tracy Thorne
I became a fan of Tracey's when people started coming to my shows in NYC, thinking I was her! (Different spelling but, no one seemed to notice). Proud to share her namesake and loving this piece on her!
2 - John A Royce
I discovered Everything But the Girl and Tracey's richly unique vocals during a semester abroad in London in 1988. One of the students handed a cd to the bus driver while we were winding through the back roads of Whales during a weekend jaunt. I was instantly captivated! I, too, think this album returns to the nastalgic sound that orginailly captured my heart and attention and made me such a fan. But unlike you, Pat, it has grabbed me every bit as much as Idlewild did! Nice review of a fittingly emotional, contemplative rendition of the typical holiday music penetrating our every waking moment this time of year.
3 - John A Royce
Oh my. I just noticed that I wrote "Whales" instead of "Wales." My apologies.