Beth Orton - 8/10

Long before “folktronica”, Beth Orton was working with luminaries like Andrew Weatherall, William Orbit and The Chemicals, bringing her distinctive country-folk into after-hours everywhere.

Lately she’s tended to a more classicist singer-songwriter sound, but here, with Andrew Hung of Fuck Buttons producing, the beat is very much back.

Orton’s voice has a new, androgynous depth, and rides a set of rolling synth-heavy live grooves that are a bit Talking Heads, a bit Krautrock, a bit Kate Bush, a bit Hot Chip, but very fresh too.On some songs it feels like it’s still an experiment in progress – it’ll be fascinating to see how they evolve on the live stage and in remixes – but just as often, Orton is absolutely on top of her game. Welcome back!

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