Touch (Bonus Tracks) [2005 Remaster]

Guided by Annie Lennox's remarkable voice, Eurythmics' 1983 album trips around the edges of New Wave. Brooding opener "Here Comes the Rain Again" sets the tone, framing Lennox's velvety alto with chilly synths and violins; the mournful "Who's That Girl?" is a torch song over minimalist electronics, and "Paint a Rumour" adds dubby horns to an icy Italo-disco pulse. It's not all so cold: "Right By Your Side" takes a joyous detour through the Caribbean via steel pans and call-and-response vocals. It’s as irresistible as it is ambitious.