Tides that take me away/To a distant shore/And I don't want to be saved

November 8, 2024 2:12 AM

A Distant Shore has just been released in an expanded version by Cherry Red Records, along with demos for songs that would eventually be released on Everything but the Girl's debut album. Tracey Thorn's classic 1982 indie album has long been a favorite of artists from Björk to Massive Attack, and is constantly rediscovered. In 2013 Thorn spoke about the album to the Guardian [archive link] and also wrote about the circumstances of its writing in her memoir Bedsit Disco Queen, excerpted here.
posted by Kattullus (10 comments total)

Oops, I neglected to put in two links I meant to include, the 1982 review by Penny Kiley in the Melody Maker, and a short little essay by Alistair Fitchett about listening to A Distant Shore when it had just come out.
posted by Kattullus at 2:28 AM on November 8

Thorn has the perfect voice to do Femme Fatale
posted by chavenet at 2:54 AM on November 8 [3 favorites]

The full playlist is on YouTube.
posted by Lanark at 3:35 AM on November 8 [1 favorite]

I love love her voice -- and yet somehow didn't know about this album. What a gift in this awful week!!
posted by wenestvedt at 3:52 AM on November 8 [5 favorites]

Tracey Thorn has an amazing voice. A Distant Shore is a fantastic album and the expanded version is worth the extras even if you already own it.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 6:24 AM on November 8 [2 favorites]

What I needed to hear (as November crowds the year to its end and shuts the sun down at 4:30 and by Seven you're ready for bed and outside it's weather that must be the perfect weather for catching pneumonia, icy, damp, drizzly, any fleck of bare skin immediately feel so cold the rest of you feels cold as well...) as antidote to the time of year
posted by From Bklyn at 7:40 AM on November 8 [2 favorites]

Beautiful album, top-tier person.
posted by bcwinters at 7:59 AM on November 8 [1 favorite]

Cool. It's going on my Christmas list.
posted by Spike Glee at 8:36 AM on November 8 [1 favorite]

Wonderful. And she was just 19!
posted by freya_lamb at 9:20 AM on November 8 [2 favorites]

Love.
posted by chainringtattoo at 12:57 PM on November 9 [1 favorite]