Everything But The Girl, Temperamental

Temperamental is ample evidence of Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn's continuing evolution from an acoustic-guitar-based pair of comfortably suburban love griots to acoustically accomplished soundscape explorers who still have a weakness for a pleading melody. After Todd Terry's remix of "Missing" (from Amplified Heart) revitalized the duo, Watt took the opportunity to open their sound up to the clubs, all the while managing to retain the sense of warmth against which so much anonymously ironic dance music actively rebels. In doing so, Watt managed to create a bed of music that mirrors and complements Thorn's impossibly expressive, flat vocals. Though it carries EBTG's sound farther away from their deep roots, a good half of the songs on Temperamental still sound right at home next to their earlier acoustic work ("Hatfield 1980," "Low Tide of the Night," and "Lullaby of Clubland," which straddles the gap)--and those that don't ("Blame," the instrumental "Compression") are more than enjoyable on their own terms.

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