Beth Orton
Do we admit to the Ten Year Syndrome? Conventional wisdom suggests that with many singers and bands it's more often than not their earlier work that carries the most weight. Every now and then, however, a few artists spectacularly explode the theory by producing something startling and special around the ten-year mark of their careers, a sense of renewal so profound that it often results in their finest work. How else to explain Bob Dylan with 'Blood on the Tracks'. Or 'What's Going On' by Marvin Gaye. Tom Waits and 'Swordfishtrombones'. U2's 'Achtung Baby'. The Rolling Stones' 'Exile on Main Street'. Stevie Wonder with 'Talking Book'. 2006 marks the 10th anniversary of Beth Orton's eye-opening debut, 'Trailer Park', an album that came as the culmination of a long and circuitous apprenticeship.
Born in Norfolk, she and her mother moved to London when Beth was 14 years old. She spent her late teens engrossed in a veritable plethora of music - 'The Beatles' White Album and 'Revolver', Leonard Cohen, Nick Drake, the Cocteau Twins, Joni Mitchell's 'Blue', Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, John Martyn, Shinehead, Blondie, the Beastie Boys, The Clash, Jimi Hendrix, The Specials, Eek-a-Mouse, Led Zeppelin, The Jam, Rickie Lee Jones, Rolling Stones, The Byrds, Prince, Kate Bush's 'The Kick Inside', even my mother's classical and opera records', she says.
'I immersed myself in songwriters but I was brought up in a house where the walls literally shook from the music played by my brother who went through every genre of music from punk to hip hop and everything in between, all played at deafening volume. I can't tie it all up, it almost seems as though there is too much'.
This enormous fascination with music of all kinds was later evident in Beth Orton's impatient imagination, the almost headlong desire to embark on new ideas and partnerships. Yet despite this driving force in her music career, Beth Orton's initial ambitions as she reached the end of her teens were more firmly focused on acting. Indeed, Beth Orton spent some time touring in fringe theatre - she once played Rimbaud's lover in 'A Season in Hell' - before meeting up with dance producer William Orbit who was to become her first musical mentor and collaborator. Orton's debut came as one half of the duo Spill, a one-off project with Orbit recording a cover version of John Martyn's 'Don't Wanna Know About Evil'. She also worked with Orbit on his 1993 'Strange Cargo' project, co-writing and singing 'Water From a Vine Leaf'. Beth's path towards a solo career was further signposted when Orbit produced 'Superpinkymandy', a rare recording released only in Japan.
As a consequence of her rising reputation Beth Orton was asked to sing 'Alive Alone', a stand out track on the Chemical Brothers' astonishing1995 debut album, 'Exit Planet Dust'. She also worked with the freak-beat jazz combo Red Snapper, providing the vocals for their first singles, 'Snapper' and 'In Deep', before setting about the serious business of recording her own worldwide debut album.
'Trailer Park', released on Heavenly in October 1996, was an intriguing step forward, blending Beth Orton's guitars with samples and beats on an album of starkly personal and sensual songs. Produced by Victor Van Vugt (of Tindersticks and Nick Cave fame) and Andrew Weatherall (responsible for Primal Scream's classic 'Screamadelica', an album that Beth Orton claims introduced her to dance music), 'Trailer Park' suggested the emergence of a new kind of rhythm-fuelled folk - a significance recognised when it was shortlisted for the UK's prestigious Mercury Music Prize in 1997, with the judges claiming Beth to be the "queen of the heartbreak vocal". The album also marked the start of Beth Orton's long musical partnership with guitarist Ted Barnes.
The year 1997 proved very productive for Beth. She toured incessantly, supporting the likes of John Martyn, Tindersticks, John Cale, Mark Eitzel and Everything But The Girl before selling out her own headline tours and playing her first Glastonbury Festival. Beth Orton also made her American debut, playing with Sheryl Crow and Emmylou Harris on the Lilith Fair tour before headlining her own dates in the autumn, the overwhelmingly favourable response to which saw the start of her enduring reputation in the United States.
Back in the studio, Orton collaborated with the Chemical Brothers once again, contributing a vocal to their smash hit number one album, 'Dig Your Own Hole', before recording her own 'Best Bit' EP, its soulful sound highlighted by Orton's two duets with the folk-jazz legend, Terry Callier. Beth's second album, 'Central Reservation', was released in the spring of 1999. Terry Callier was again featured together with guest appearances from the likes of Dr. John, Ben Harper, Mazzy Star's David Roback and Ben Watt of Everything But The Girl. The album was far more reflective than 'Trailer Park', with dance beats exchanged for a purer folk sound. The result, however, was equally captivating. 'Central Reservation' was a popular and critical hit, with Beth Orton again being shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize. The following year, 2000, Beth Orton won the Best British Female accolade at the UK's Brit Awards.
In 1999 she returned to America for the annual Lilith Fair tour, followed by such prestigious dates as the Newport Folk Festival and, in 2000, her own headlining concert series, all of which came as she was riding a wave of commercial and critical success - indeed, 'Stolen Car' from 'Central Reservation' was Beth's first American hit. It was to take another two years for Orton to release her third album, which came in July 2002. 'Daybreaker', her last record for Heavenly, was epic in its scope and ambition with a massive soundscape ranging from the Chemical Brothers-produced title track to the country inflections of 'God Song', a tune that featured guest vocalist Emmylou Harris. 'Daybreaker' was distinguished by an impressive array of producers, mixers and musicians. In addition to the Chemical Brothers, Beth Orton invited old friends and new conspirators William Orbit, Ben Watt, Johnny Marr, Jim Keltner, Ryan Adams and Victor Van Vugt to help shape the album's widescreen qualities.
It was an immediate success on both sides of the Atlantic, the accolades complemented by the applause for Beth Orton's powerful live show that toured Europe - including a sell out concert at London's Royal Albert Hall - and America in the wake of the album's release. By this time Beth Orton's reputation as both a songwriter and performer was such that her place in modern music was assured. Just as significantly, however, for Beth Orton 'Daybreaker' came as the closing statement, the final chapter, in her opening trilogy of albums.
The last word on Beth Orton's work goes to Dave Eggers, author of the esteemed novel 'A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius' and an astute witness to the sheer and extraordinary emotional drive of Beth Orton's music. Asked about his listening pleasures when writing the book, Eggers told a journalist: 'I went out to the Wiz off the highway to buy a CD or two and ended up getting Beth Orton's 'Central Reservation'. Then I did what I always do, I latched onto a particular song, in this case 'Sweetest Decline', and listened to that one song, on a continuous loop, for the next six days. No joke. I tend to try to wear a song out, to rid myself of it. But that song, I still haven't solved. I still listen to it for days on end.
Born in Norfolk, she and her mother moved to London when Beth was 14 years old. She spent her late teens engrossed in a veritable plethora of music - 'The Beatles' White Album and 'Revolver', Leonard Cohen, Nick Drake, the Cocteau Twins, Joni Mitchell's 'Blue', Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, John Martyn, Shinehead, Blondie, the Beastie Boys, The Clash, Jimi Hendrix, The Specials, Eek-a-Mouse, Led Zeppelin, The Jam, Rickie Lee Jones, Rolling Stones, The Byrds, Prince, Kate Bush's 'The Kick Inside', even my mother's classical and opera records', she says.
'I immersed myself in songwriters but I was brought up in a house where the walls literally shook from the music played by my brother who went through every genre of music from punk to hip hop and everything in between, all played at deafening volume. I can't tie it all up, it almost seems as though there is too much'.
This enormous fascination with music of all kinds was later evident in Beth Orton's impatient imagination, the almost headlong desire to embark on new ideas and partnerships. Yet despite this driving force in her music career, Beth Orton's initial ambitions as she reached the end of her teens were more firmly focused on acting. Indeed, Beth Orton spent some time touring in fringe theatre - she once played Rimbaud's lover in 'A Season in Hell' - before meeting up with dance producer William Orbit who was to become her first musical mentor and collaborator. Orton's debut came as one half of the duo Spill, a one-off project with Orbit recording a cover version of John Martyn's 'Don't Wanna Know About Evil'. She also worked with Orbit on his 1993 'Strange Cargo' project, co-writing and singing 'Water From a Vine Leaf'. Beth's path towards a solo career was further signposted when Orbit produced 'Superpinkymandy', a rare recording released only in Japan.
As a consequence of her rising reputation Beth Orton was asked to sing 'Alive Alone', a stand out track on the Chemical Brothers' astonishing1995 debut album, 'Exit Planet Dust'. She also worked with the freak-beat jazz combo Red Snapper, providing the vocals for their first singles, 'Snapper' and 'In Deep', before setting about the serious business of recording her own worldwide debut album.
'Trailer Park', released on Heavenly in October 1996, was an intriguing step forward, blending Beth Orton's guitars with samples and beats on an album of starkly personal and sensual songs. Produced by Victor Van Vugt (of Tindersticks and Nick Cave fame) and Andrew Weatherall (responsible for Primal Scream's classic 'Screamadelica', an album that Beth Orton claims introduced her to dance music), 'Trailer Park' suggested the emergence of a new kind of rhythm-fuelled folk - a significance recognised when it was shortlisted for the UK's prestigious Mercury Music Prize in 1997, with the judges claiming Beth to be the "queen of the heartbreak vocal". The album also marked the start of Beth Orton's long musical partnership with guitarist Ted Barnes.
The year 1997 proved very productive for Beth. She toured incessantly, supporting the likes of John Martyn, Tindersticks, John Cale, Mark Eitzel and Everything But The Girl before selling out her own headline tours and playing her first Glastonbury Festival. Beth Orton also made her American debut, playing with Sheryl Crow and Emmylou Harris on the Lilith Fair tour before headlining her own dates in the autumn, the overwhelmingly favourable response to which saw the start of her enduring reputation in the United States.
Back in the studio, Orton collaborated with the Chemical Brothers once again, contributing a vocal to their smash hit number one album, 'Dig Your Own Hole', before recording her own 'Best Bit' EP, its soulful sound highlighted by Orton's two duets with the folk-jazz legend, Terry Callier. Beth's second album, 'Central Reservation', was released in the spring of 1999. Terry Callier was again featured together with guest appearances from the likes of Dr. John, Ben Harper, Mazzy Star's David Roback and Ben Watt of Everything But The Girl. The album was far more reflective than 'Trailer Park', with dance beats exchanged for a purer folk sound. The result, however, was equally captivating. 'Central Reservation' was a popular and critical hit, with Beth Orton again being shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize. The following year, 2000, Beth Orton won the Best British Female accolade at the UK's Brit Awards.
In 1999 she returned to America for the annual Lilith Fair tour, followed by such prestigious dates as the Newport Folk Festival and, in 2000, her own headlining concert series, all of which came as she was riding a wave of commercial and critical success - indeed, 'Stolen Car' from 'Central Reservation' was Beth's first American hit. It was to take another two years for Orton to release her third album, which came in July 2002. 'Daybreaker', her last record for Heavenly, was epic in its scope and ambition with a massive soundscape ranging from the Chemical Brothers-produced title track to the country inflections of 'God Song', a tune that featured guest vocalist Emmylou Harris. 'Daybreaker' was distinguished by an impressive array of producers, mixers and musicians. In addition to the Chemical Brothers, Beth Orton invited old friends and new conspirators William Orbit, Ben Watt, Johnny Marr, Jim Keltner, Ryan Adams and Victor Van Vugt to help shape the album's widescreen qualities.
It was an immediate success on both sides of the Atlantic, the accolades complemented by the applause for Beth Orton's powerful live show that toured Europe - including a sell out concert at London's Royal Albert Hall - and America in the wake of the album's release. By this time Beth Orton's reputation as both a songwriter and performer was such that her place in modern music was assured. Just as significantly, however, for Beth Orton 'Daybreaker' came as the closing statement, the final chapter, in her opening trilogy of albums.
The last word on Beth Orton's work goes to Dave Eggers, author of the esteemed novel 'A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius' and an astute witness to the sheer and extraordinary emotional drive of Beth Orton's music. Asked about his listening pleasures when writing the book, Eggers told a journalist: 'I went out to the Wiz off the highway to buy a CD or two and ended up getting Beth Orton's 'Central Reservation'. Then I did what I always do, I latched onto a particular song, in this case 'Sweetest Decline', and listened to that one song, on a continuous loop, for the next six days. No joke. I tend to try to wear a song out, to rid myself of it. But that song, I still haven't solved. I still listen to it for days on end.
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