The Cherry Thing
Studio album by Neneh Cherry and The Thing
Released	19 June 2012
Recorded	2011
Studio	Harder Sound, London, UK Atlantis, Stockholm, Sweden
Genre	Jazz
Length	50:59
Label	Smalltown Supersound
Producer	Cameron McVey Robert Harder

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	77/100 [1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Chicago Tribune	[3]
Down Beat	[4]
The Financial Times	[5]
The Guardian	[6]

The Cherry Thing is an album by vocalist Neneh Cherry and jazz trio The Thing, consisting of saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love. It was recorded in 2011 and released the following year by Smalltown Supersound.

Neneh Cherry's stepfather was free jazz trumpeter Don Cherry. ^[7] The trio The Thing took their name from a track on Don Cherry's 1966 album Where Is Brooklyn? ^[7] Cherry "began her career in the 1980s as a teen vocalist in post-punk outfits Rip Rig & Panic and Float Up CP; both melded free jazz and angular funk." ^[2] Conny Lindstrom, who had produced albums by The Thing, also knew Cherry and suggested that she perform with them. ^[8]

The Cherry Thing was recorded at Harder Sound Studios in London and Atlantis Studios in Stockholm. ^[9]

The album contains eight tracks. The two originals are "Sudden Moment" by Gustafsson and "Cashback" by Cherry. ^[2] The nine-minute version of Suicide's " Dream Baby Dream" "is no less ethereal than the original, but far more sinister; Cherry [...] keeps the beautiful melodic core intact, even as she becomes ever more insistent, showing her dominant authority. Her accompanists build a gorgeous wall of atmospheric tension behind her". ^[2] Martina Topley-Bird's "Too Tough to Die" "begins sparsely and slowly before Cherry and Gustafsson enter and begin pushing, [...] Cherry's vocal is emboldened with risk, turning the melody in on itself and ululating against the baritone horn. The rhythm sections answers with syncopated breaks and funk." ^[2] MF Doom's "Accordion" and the Stooges' "Dirt" "are sparse, threatening, and poignant, the former tinged with implied violence, and the latter [...] smolders with raw, dark sensuality." ^[2] Don Cherry's "Golden Heart" is "an otherworldly meld of Middle Eastern modes and textures and a skeletal lyric frame that displays this group's command of diverse musical languages." ^[2] On Ornette Coleman's "What Reason", the "nearly mournful presentation, with gorgeous jazz singing by Cherry and restrained yet adventurous soloing by Gustafsson and Håker Flaten, make the tune drip with longing." ^[2]

The album was released on 19 June 2012. ^[2] It peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart. ^[10]

BBC reviewer John Doran stated that the recording was "one of the most enjoyable and original albums of the year". ^[11] John Fordham of The Guardian commented that the music "dramatically bridges the singer's avant-pop world and the flat-out sax-howling, percussion-thundering soundscape the group have been poleaxing audiences with since 2000." ^[6] Ben Ratliff of The New York Times wrote that the intentional contrast between Cherry's tenderness and the band's loud aggression sometimes became unbalanced in favour of the latter. ^[12]

1. "Cashback" ( Neneh Cherry) – 5:58
2. " Dream Baby Dream" ( Martin Rev, Alan Vega) – 8:24
3. "Too Tough to Die" ( Martina Topley-Bird) – 5:13
4. "Sudden Moment" ( Mats Gustafsson) – 8:26
5. "Accordion" ( Daniel Dumile, Otis Jackson, Jr.) – 6:10
6. "Golden Heart" ( Don Cherry) – 4:43
7. "Dirt" ( David Alexander, James Osterberg, Ron Asheton, Scott Asheton) – 6:47
8. "What Reason" ( Ornette Coleman) – 5:18

• Neneh Cherry – vocals
• Mats Gustafsson – baritone sax, tenor sax, electronics
• Ingebrigt Håker Flaten – double bass, electric bass, electronics
• Paal Nilssen-Love – drums, percussion

• "A Quietus Interview Keep Those Dreams Burning Forever: Neneh Cherry Interviewed"