New Recordings

Pop Tracey Thorn has always seemed an old soul. In Everything but the Girl, Thorn and her musical and life partner, Ben Watt, started off dabbling in bossa nova and cool jazz back in the mid-'80s before moving into club territory later in a career that's been on hiatus since 1999. No matter the setting, though, Thorn's restrained, unaffected alto conveyed a somber wisdom and heartfelt experience.