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Love and Its Opposite
Studio album by Tracey Thorn
Released	17 May 2010 (2010-05-17)
Genre	Pop
Length	37:33
Label	Strange Feeling & Merge Records
Producer	Tracey Thorn, Ewan Pearson
Tracey Thorn chronology
Out of the Woods (2007) Love and Its Opposite (2010) Tinsel and Lights (2012)

Love and Its Opposite is the third solo studio album by former Everything but the Girl singer Tracey Thorn, released on 18 May 2010. The album was released on Thorn's husband Ben Watt's label Strange Feeling in the UK, and on Merge Records in North America. It was produced by Ewan Pearson, who also produced tracks on Thorn's previous album Out of the Woods. The album peaked at number 51 in the UK Albums Chart.

An EP of remixes, Opposites, was released digitally on 24 August 2010.

Background

Love and Its Opposite was recorded in Berlin and London, and features guest contributions from Hot Chip's Al Doyle, The Invisible's Leo Taylor, Swedish singer-songwriter Jens Lekman, Nashville musician Cortney Tidwell and Los Valentinos' guitarist Jono. It contains eight original songs and two cover versions: Lee Hazlewood's "Come on Home to Me" (a duet with Jens Lekman) and "You Are a Lover" by The Unbending Trees (with whom Thorn collaborated in 2008).

The album's opening track, "Oh, the Divorces!", was made available as a free digital download on 17 February 2010, along with the confirmation of the album's track list. "Why Does the Wind?" and "You Are a Lover" were released as singles later in 2010 and 2011, respectively, accompanied by several remixes. The remix EP Opposites included versions of the album tracks "Late in the Afternoon," "Swimming," and "Kentish Town," and in 2011 Thorn released the Night Time EP with a cover version of The xx's "Night Time" and new mixes of "Swimming."

Thorn has described the theme of the album as "a record about the person I am now and the people around me ... about real life after forty."

The cover art was designed by John Gilsenan.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.0/10
Metacritic	77/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
The A.V. Club	B
Billboard
The Daily Telegraph
The Guardian
The Irish Times
Mojo
Pitchfork	6.9/10
Q
Uncut

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 77, based on 17 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Track listing

All tracks are written by Tracey Thorn, except when noted

Charts

References

1. ^ "New Release: Tracey Thorn: Love and Its Opposite". Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
2. "The Official Charts Company – Tracey Thorn – Love And Its Opposite". Official Charts Company. 30 July 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
3. "Merge Records, Tracey Thorn gets remixed on new "Opposites" EP". mergerecords.com. Archived from the original on 1 November 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
4. ^ "Tracey Thorn official website, news section". traceythorn.com. Archived from the original on 20 February 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
5. "Tracey Thorn official website, cover art credit". traceythorn.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
6. "Love And Its Opposite by Tracey Thorn reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
7. ^ "Reviews for Love And Its Opposite by Tracey Thorn". Metacritic. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
8. Hoffman, K. Ross. "Love and Its Opposite – Tracey Thorn". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
9. Matos, Michaelangelo (18 May 2010). "Tracey Thorn: Love And Its Opposite". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
10. Nagy, Evie (11 June 2010). "Tracey Thorn, "Love and Its Opposite"". Billboard. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
11. McCormick, Neil (14 May 2010). "Tracey Thorn: Love and Its Opposite, CD review". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
12. Costa, Maddy (13 May 2010). "Tracey Thorn: Love and Its Opposite". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
13. Murphy, Lauren (14 May 2010). "Tracey Thorn". The Irish Times. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
14. "Tracey Thorn: Love and Its Opposite". Mojo (199): 92. June 2010.
15. Orme, Mike (26 May 2010). "Tracey Thorn: Love and Its Opposite". Pitchfork. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
16. "Tracey Thorn: Love and Its Opposite". Q (287): 132. June 2010.
17. "Tracey Thorn: Love and Its Opposite". Uncut (158): 125. July 2010.
18. "Swedishcharts.com – Tracey Thorn – Love And Its Opposite". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
19. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
20. "Tracey Thorn Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
21. "Tracey Thorn Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
22. "Tracey Thorn Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 February 2019.

External links

• Love and Its Opposite at Discogs (list of releases)
• Merge Records
• Tracey Thorn official website

• 2010 albums
• Tracey Thorn albums
• Merge Records albums