Tracey Thorn honestly portrays the darker, conflicting sides of affection on her third solo record, Love And Its Opposite, which candidly delves into the painful aspects of what happens when you either give your heart away to the wrong person or selfishly keep it to yourself, thus ending up alone. This is made clear through the first lyrics on the forthright opener (and lead single) ‘Oh, The Divorces!’ with Thorn asking “Who’s next?” This stark appraisal only serves to augment the frayed emotions that caused the once harmonious family photo serving as the album cover to be bitterly altered. And while the mostly acoustic-based tracks found here are a direct departure from the electronic, dance-pop sound of Everything But The Girl, as well as the folktronica flourishes of her last solo record, Out Of The Woods, Thorn’s voice remains clear and true throughout the record; it’s just that her lyrical focus has shifted from the nightclub to a night at home, and from getting the kids to dance to putting the kids to bed. And while that makes for a more subdued, somber listen, the songs resonate with a mature passion and an elegant wisdom earned from over three decades spent in the industry.

‘Long White Dress’ candidly deals with a woman’s reluctance to get married, and certainly alludes to Thorn’s own hesitation to marry partner Ben Watt, whom she dated for nearly thirty years before finally getting wed last year. It’s an unvarnished examination of what we lose in ourselves when we become two instead of one, and how a majority of our doubts are based on what is in our heads and not our hearts. ‘Hormones’ picks up the pace a bit, with a bouncy piano line threaded underneath Thorn’s musings on what parents pass on to their children, and how a mother can clearly see who she was in what her daughter is becoming. And that momentum carries over into the stirring ‘Kentish Town’ and ‘Why Does The Wind?’ both of which would fit seamlessly into an EBTG album, maintaining the moody minimalism and haunting seductiveness of Thorn’s previous outfit.

Venerable producer Ewan Pearson again mans the dials on this record, but his production is markedly understated on Love And Its Opposite, fleshing out Thorn’s initial musical ideas and working with her sparse arrangements instead of providing her beats to build her songs upon like he did on her last record. There are plenty of stellar guests on the record, with Hot Chip’s Al Doyle providing bass and guitar support, Leo Taylor from The Invisible adding drums, while Cortney Tidwell sings backup, and plays bass and drums on ‘Swimming.’ But Thorn’s voice is continually front and center in the mix, as it should be, with very little superfluous additions being made to her dulcet vocals and tender tales of growth and desire. That simplistic approach is most evident on her exquisite cover of The Unbending Trees’ ‘You Are A Lover,’ which is proof that when you are working with something as singular as Thorn’s striking voice, you don’t need a complex arrangement to fashion a memorable song, just put her in front of the microphone and magic is bound to happen.

The sad, out-of-place tragedy of ‘Singles Bar’ should make all of us lucky enough to have found a partner feel even more fortunate, knowing that we don’t have to spend our nights in such a desperate, lonely place. While the simmering menace of ‘Come On Home To Me’ features a lovely duet between Thorn and Jens Lekman on the Lee Hazelwood classic that is one of the clear standouts on the record. ‘Late In The Afternoon’ reflects the pensive relaxation of the time of day referenced in the title, and forms a strong segue into the splendid closer ‘Swimming,’ which has a very fluid texture to it that finishes the record in a dreamy, meditative manner. Thorn is clearly reflecting upon her own experiences dealing with growing older and wiser on Love And Its Opposite, and while these songs won’t set the dancefloors on fire like her past work has, it instead gives voice to a different stage of life that all of us are bound to experience once the club finally closes its doors for the night.