Idlewild

Idlewild was produced and recorded by the duo with little input from other collaborators. Its songs deal with domestic and family topics: motherhood and child raising in "Apron Strings" and "These Early Days", growing up in the suburbs in "Oxford Street", relationships in "I Always Was Your Girl" and "Love Is Here Where I Live", and homesickness in "Lonesome for a Place I Know". The sound moves between acoustic instruments, synthesizers and a drum machine.

In her memoir Bedsit Disco Queen, Thorn remembered writing lyrics that were more like short stories than pop lyrics, without real choruses. Watt was experimenting with synths and bought a drum machine. Thorn wrote on guitar or piano, and the two pulled in different directions before settling on a record that used a bit of both. She called it another bizarre hybrid.

According to Thorn, when the album was finished the record company felt it lacked hits and doubted its quality. It was later met with critical acclaim and is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Three singles, "These Early Days", "I Always Was Your Girl" and "Love Is Here Where I Live", made little impact: the first reached number 75 in the UK, the second number 87, and the third did not chart. The cover of "I Don't Want to Talk About It" was recorded between those releases and became the duo's biggest success to that point. The album reached number 13 in the UK and number 38 in New Zealand, and was certified Gold in the UK for sales above 100,000 copies. Edsel Records reissued it in 2012 as a remastered two-disc deluxe set.