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Beth Orton releases new album after six years
Wednesday 3rd October 2012 | Laura
The singer/songwriter who was known for her “folktronic” music, comes back married with children and her new work, Sugaring Season.
Beth Orton, born in Norwich in 1970, never had an easy life. Her parents died when she was still young. She then tried to find her place by moving to Thailand and living with Buddhist nuns, working in the food industry and studying acting. She therefore lived a lot of experiences before finding, by chance, her vocation. It was by bumping into William Orbit, who convinced her to give music a go. Orton got involved with Orbit sentimentally and musically, doing some collaborations and recording her first tracks. They became a dance duo called Spill, but only released one track for the Japanese market called ‘Don't Wanna Know 'Bout Evil’ which was a cover of John Martyn.
She also collaborated with Red Snapper and The Chemical Brothers before releasing her first EP ‘She Cries Your Name’ in 1996, which was included later on her debut album Trailer Park. Her following works Central Reservation, Daybreaker and Comfort of Strangers, alternate between electronica and alt-folk , Daybreaker being the one getting more recognition with guest appearances form top artists such as The Chemical Brothers and Emmylou Harris, and being a great commercial success, reaching the top 8 of the UK album chart, and receiving largely positive reviews from the press, ranging from Mojo magazine the NME, Rolling Stone and The Guardian.
After a six year silence, when she got married to Sam Amidon, giving birth to two children, comes her 5th album, Sugar Seasons. In spite of the happy family life that she currently has, her songs still show that sadness and searching feeling that is Orton’s trademark. This period has allowed her to try and try again until finding herself in the songs, and maybe that’s why this is her most intimate and intense work. With songs such as ‘Something More Beautiful’, ‘Candles’ and ‘Magpie’ we can hear on their strings the introspection and sorrow. Produced by Tucker Martine (My Morning Jacket, The Decemberists), the album is really appropriate for the “autumn mood’ that we are experiencing these days.
By Laura Vila
