I first saw Tracey Thorn back in 1983 as one third of the ramshackle all-girl group The Marine Girls when they were supporting Orange Juice, and you wouldn’t have thought then that this shy, doe-eyed girl with the guitar would still be around 25 years later with a string of great records under her belt and also be one of the best female singers ever to come out of England.

Later this month she releases her second solo album, a mere quarter century after the first one “A Distant Shore” came out in 1982. Back then Tracey was a student at Hull University (albeit one who had a recording contract with Cherry Red) and the album’s homey acoustic sound and melancholy, lonesome mood made it a big favourite with introspective college girls (it’s funny how many of these customer reviews mention the fact they had the album while at “uni”), finding a home on the Reject Shop shelves in their student digs alongside a well-thumbed copy of “The Bell Jar” and a poster of Robert Doisneau’s “Le Basier de L’Hotel de Vilne, 1950″ hanging on the wall. It was the indie equivalent of the singer-songwriter confessional album, a generation before those girls would have had Joni Mitchell’s “Blue” on the shelf instead.

That Robert Doisneau image was used on the sleeve of the “Plain Sailing” single, the b-side of which was the gorgeous track “Goodbye Joe” which didn’t appear on the album. This was originally recorded by the (very underrated) Monochrome Set on their 1980 album “Strange Boutique” and is about Warhol “superstar” actor Joe Dallesandro whose crotch and torso grace the cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Sticky Fingers” and The Smiths’ debut. Even back then Tracey had the sort of voice that could make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and her breathy, intimate vocal on this makes it sound as if she’s performing the song sitting at the end of your bed.

Download: Goodbye Joe – Tracey Thorn (mp3)
Buy: A Distant Shore (album)