Eden – Everything But The Girl – 180G Half Speed Mastered Vinyl LP

Everything But The Girl’s best-selling debut album, Eden was originally released in May 1984 and spent almost six months on the official UK album chart, peaking at number 14. It spawned the UK Top 40 hit, “Each and Every One”. The label wanted further singles, but the duo preferred the album to grow by word of mouth. Eden achieved gold album status in the UK and has gone on to sell more than 600,000 copies worldwide.

Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn met at the University of Hull in 1981. They formed Everything But The Girl initially as a side-project, as both had already established themselves on the UK independent music scene as teenagers – Tracey with her lo-fi minimal girl group, Marine Girls (later name-checked as one of Kurt Cobain’s favorite bands); Ben as a young guitarist and singer-songwriter, collaborating with alt-folk icon Robert Wyatt on his debut EP. The pair each released early solo albums on Cherry Red and in the summer of 1983 decided to pool new songs for Eden. It was recorded with producer Robin Millar (chosen for his work with Weekend and The Pale Fountains) at his Power Plant Studios in Willesden, North West London.

“All the songs were written on guitar in Hull in early 1983. We were living in one room with a shared kitchen on Pearson Park,” recalls Tracey. “Power Plant seemed very glamorous by comparison. Sade was recording downstairs. We were upstairs.”