Everything But The Girl have announced Blue Reservoir, a new album arriving on 19 February 2027, alongside the release of its first single, Young And Dumb. Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt confirmed the news on 28 October, with additional UK performances also announced for next spring.
The ten-song collection follows 2023’s Fuse and takes its inspiration from the pair’s intimate residency at London’s MOTH Club. In their official announcement, Thorn and Watt describe a record built around voices, guitars, double bass, drums and percussion, returning to some of their earliest musical influences.
Everything But The Girl Blue Reservoir: a change of setting
The album grew out of a live experience rather than a plan to repeat the electronic approach of Fuse. Their MOTH Club performances brought the musicians and audience into close proximity, encouraging a direct style of playing that subsequently informed the new recordings.
Speaking to NME about the announcement, Thorn explained that the new single was chosen to make that change clear. Its opening Spanish guitar introduces an album that looks towards a different part of the duo’s musical vocabulary.
The song’s subject is equally immediate. Thorn described it as a reflection on living in the present while recognising the impossibility of returning to the past, and trying to retain the energy and passion associated with being young. That perspective connects the new material to the renewed confidence they found on stage.
Recorded largely live in London
Blue Reservoir was recorded largely live at RAK Studios in London in July 2026. As the album announcement details, the sessions took place over ten days, with nine songs originally written on guitar and one on piano.
Watt’s nylon-string and electric guitars are joined by Rex Horan on double bass and Evan Jenkins on drums, with percussion from Fabio de Oliveira. Blake Watt, the couple’s son and a member of their MOTH Club live line-up, appears on two tracks.
Thorn wrote six of the lyrics, Watt contributed three, and one was written together. The duo wrote, arranged and produced the record, with Bruno Ellingham recording and mixing it. Miles Showell handled mastering at Abbey Road, while additional instrumental overdubs were recorded at the pair’s north London home studio.
The first single is accompanied by a video directed by Edward Bishop, working from a treatment by Thorn and Watt. It gives listeners a first introduction to the project ahead of the full album’s release through Buzzin’ Fly via Virgin Music Group.
New shows in London, Bristol and Manchester
The live dates are billed as Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn. The distinction allows them to draw on their solo work as well as Everything But The Girl songs, with covers and less predictable selections also part of the approach.
New performances are set for London’s Union Chapel on 21 and 22 May 2027, St George’s Bristol on 25 May and Manchester’s Albert Hall on 26 May. The official website lists tickets for those shows as going on sale on Friday 30 October.
They follow November performances at Union Chapel and December dates at MOTH Club, which the duo currently list as sold out. Fans should use the official links for the latest ticket information rather than assume availability at any particular show.
The record’s announced tracklist begins with Forward and ends with The Great Unknown. Other titles include Scala, Do What You Can, Christmas Gone and Good Hope, alongside the newly released single.
Physical editions of Blue Reservoir include black and translucent blue vinyl, CD and Blu-ray, with Dolby Atmos mixes included in the Blu-ray offering. For now, Young And Dumb is available to stream, providing the first chapter of an album shaped by the connection between two musicians, their songs and a roomful of listeners.
