There are bands you loved at 22 and bands that seem to grow up right alongside you. Everything But The Girl, the duo of Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt, has always been the second kind, and on October 28 they gave us a reason to put the kettle on and listen properly again.
On October 28, the pair announced Blue Reservoir, a new album due February 19, 2027, on Buzzin' Fly and Virgin. The first single, "Young and Dumb," is out now with a video directed by Edward Bishop and filmed at London's MOTH Club.
Where this album came from
If 2023's Fuse was the electronic comeback, Blue Reservoir sounds like the opposite move. The record grew out of the duo's long-running residency at MOTH Club, a roughly 300-capacity room in Hackney where they began playing in 2025 and have now sold out about 30 shows. That kind of small, sweaty, everyone-singing-along room changes how a band thinks about songs, and you can hear it.
In their own words on the band's site, the album sees them "lean back into some of our earliest influences and ideas. Voices, guitars, double bass, drums and percussion. Ten new songs." It was recorded largely live over 10 days at RAK Studios in July, with Rex Horan, Evan Jenkins and Fabio de Oliveira playing alongside them and Blake Watt appearing on two tracks. Nine of the 10 songs were written on guitar, which, for longtime fans of their early records, is a very good sign.
The single and its video are the first taste of that live-room sound, and for fans who fell for Thorn's voice over a hushed guitar on the early records, the idea of hearing it framed by acoustic instruments again is the real draw here. The video was shot in the same MOTH Club room that inspired the album, which feels like the right place to start.
The tracklist
The album runs "Forward," "Scala," "Young and Dumb," "Do What You Can," "Christmas Gone," "Courage Mon Brave," "The Round and Round," "Fork in the Road," "Good Hope" and "The Great Unknown." We already have "Christmas Gone" penciled in for a December playlist, sight unseen.
How to pre-order
The band's official store is offering black and translucent blue vinyl, a CD and a CD/Blu-ray edition that includes Dolby Atmos mixes. The first 1,000 orders through the official store come with a signed card from the duo.
Over at Rough Trade US, prices are $27.99 for the limited Opaque Blue Marble LP (1,000 copies), $27.99 for the Translucent Blue LP, $26.99 for the black LP, $21.99 for the CD/Blu-ray and $15.99 for the CD. You can also stream the single and find every pre-order option at EBTG.lnk.to/BlueReservoir.
The live dates
For anyone tempted by a spring trip to the U.K., the duo will play intimate shows billed as "Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn" in May 2027: two nights at London's Union Chapel on May 21 and 22, Bristol's St George's on May 25 and Manchester's Albert Hall on May 26. The band says the sets will mix Blue Reservoir tracks with songs from their solo careers and their years as a duo, plus covers and surprises. Tickets, with a maximum of four per person, went on sale October 30 at 6 p.m. GMT (1 p.m. Central) via DICE.
If you have been playing "Missing" in the car for 30 years, this is your sign to give the new chapter a listen.
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