Everything But the Girl - Walking Wounded

Everything But the Girl reinvented themselves on Walking Wounded, the 1996 album where Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt traded acoustic sophistication for drum and bass, trip-hop and late-night club pulse.

The shift came after a Todd Terry remix of one of their earlier songs became a worldwide dance hit, showing the duo just how naturally Thorn's cool, unhurried voice sat over electronic beats. Rather than chase a repeat, Watt threw himself into the sounds of London's clubs, and the pair wrote an album that met that energy head on while keeping the emotional intelligence of their earlier work.

Before Today sets the tone with a skittering breakbeat beneath Thorn's calm, aching vocal, and Wrong pairs a buoyant house groove with one of their most immediate hooks. The title track floats on rolling jungle drums and moody strings, while Single slows into a hushed, trip-hop melancholy that feels made for rainy city streets. Throughout, the arrangements stay spacious, letting every lyric about longing and distance hang in the air.

It's a landmark of 1990s crossover electronica and a career-redefining moment for the duo. On a single LP, Walking Wounded remains a gorgeous after-hours companion, as moving on headphones as it is on a big system.