Tracey Thorn, musician and author of the bestselling autobiography Bedsit Disco Queen, offers a unique insider's take on the art of singing: why and how we sing, and the voice's power to captivate

In her acclaimed autobiography Bedsit Disco Queen, Tracey Thorn recalled the highs and lows of a 30-year career in pop music. But with the touring, recording, and extraordinary anecdotes, there wasn't time for an in-depth look at what she actually did for all those years: sing. She sang with warmth and emotional honesty, sometimes while battling acute stage fright. Part memoir and part wide-ranging exploration of the art, mechanics, and spellbinding power of singing,Naked at the Albert Hall takes in Dusty Springfield, Dennis Potter, and George Eliot; Auto-tune, the microphone, and stage presence; The Streets andThe X Factor. Including interviews with fellow artists such as Alison Moyet, Romy Madley-Croft, and Green Gartside of Scritti Politti, and portraits of singers in fiction as well as Tracey's real-life experiences, it offers a unique, witty, and sharply observed insider's perspective on the exhilarating joy and occasional heartache of singing.

This is the story of Tracey Thorn, one half of the internationally successful group Everything But the Girl, collaborator with such artists as Paul Weller, Massive Attack, and dance legend Todd Terry. Tracey was only 16 when she bought an electric guitar and joined a band. A year later, she formed an all-girl band called the Marine Girls, played gigs, signed to an indie label, and started releasing records. Then, for 18 years, between 1982 and 2000, she was one half of Everything But the Girl. They released nine albums and sold nine million records, went on countless tours, had hits and flops, and were reviewed and interviewed to within an inch of their lives. Tracey has been in the charts, out of them, and back in. She's seen herself described as an indie darling, a middle-of-the-road nobody, and a disco diva. As she explains here, she hasn't always fit in, a fact that's helped her to face up to the realities of a pop career. She discusses her realizations—that there are thrills and wonders to be experienced, but also moments of doubt, mistakes, and violent lifestyle changes from luxury to squalor and back again, sometimes within minutes. This is the funny, perceptive, and candid story of her 30-year pop career.