Album: Central Reservation
Artist: Beth Orton
Born: East Dereham, Norfolk
Released: March 1999
Genre: Folktronica
The fact this album came out on my wife's 21st birthday, not long after we'd got together, and that Beth Orton was from Norfolk, the same county in which my wife was born, are no doubt just coincidences but I prefer to see them as serendipity. Central Reservation soundtracked our falling in love and no other album can so easily transport me back to that time in my life. I was already a fan of Orton after the release of Trailer Park (1996), her brilliant first album produced by Andrew Weatherall featuring She Cries Your Name, co-written with her then boyfriend and electronic musician William Orbit (the story of how they met is fascinating). Her unique blend of folk melodies with elements of trip hop and ambient music ensured that Orton was one of the pioneers of the folktronica genre, along with The Beta Band. Orton's songwriting improved further on Central Reservation, with opening track Stolen Car just one of several examples of her maturing style ("One drink too many and a joke gone too far / I see a face drive like a stolen car"), as she examines the pieces of a broken relationship. I really love the sound of Orton's voice on this track, as well as the slide guitar parts played by Ben Harper, and the single was a Top 40 hit in the UK.
Sweetest Decline is another standout track on the album, featuring a wonderful piano performance by Dr John and emotional vocals ("What's the use in regrets / they're just things we haven't done yet"). Pass In Time explores similar territory, with Orton reflecting on her mother's death, but the uplifting chorus, with backing vocals from folk singer Terry Callier, makes the track glow with passionate resilience. The title track appears first as a downtempo number and then later on the album as the single version, one of two club tracks on which she joins forces with Everything But The Girl's Ben Watt. The other is Stars All Seem To Weep, which has trip hop beats and echo-laden ambient noises, and a very different sound to many of the intimate folk tracks on the album. Although most songs are steeped in melancholy and heartbreak, notably Blood Red River, there are also joyful moments like Love Like Laughter (with its Dylanesque sound) and Feel To Believe, on which Orton sounds very much like Joni Mitchell. Although Orton has recorded much less material in the past decade or so, instead focusing on family life with her talented husband, folk musician Sam Amidon, and their two children, she did make a welcome return to form with 2012's Sugaring Season. I went to see her play live at Norwich Arts Centre with my wife, just after we'd had our second child, and it felt like everything had come full circle.
The fact this album came out on my wife's 21st birthday, not long after we'd got together, and that Beth Orton was from Norfolk, the same county in which my wife was born, are no doubt just coincidences but I prefer to see them as serendipity. Central Reservation soundtracked our falling in love and no other album can so easily transport me back to that time in my life. I was already a fan of Orton after the release of Trailer Park (1996), her brilliant first album produced by Andrew Weatherall featuring She Cries Your Name, co-written with her then boyfriend and electronic musician William Orbit (the story of how they met is fascinating). Her unique blend of folk melodies with elements of trip hop and ambient music ensured that Orton was one of the pioneers of the folktronica genre, along with The Beta Band. Orton's songwriting improved further on Central Reservation, with opening track Stolen Car just one of several examples of her maturing style ("One drink too many and a joke gone too far / I see a face drive like a stolen car"), as she examines the pieces of a broken relationship. I really love the sound of Orton's voice on this track, as well as the slide guitar parts played by Ben Harper, and the single was a Top 40 hit in the UK.
Sweetest Decline is another standout track on the album, featuring a wonderful piano performance by Dr John and emotional vocals ("What's the use in regrets / they're just things we haven't done yet"). Pass In Time explores similar territory, with Orton reflecting on her mother's death, but the uplifting chorus, with backing vocals from folk singer Terry Callier, makes the track glow with passionate resilience. The title track appears first as a downtempo number and then later on the album as the single version, one of two club tracks on which she joins forces with Everything But The Girl's Ben Watt. The other is Stars All Seem To Weep, which has trip hop beats and echo-laden ambient noises, and a very different sound to many of the intimate folk tracks on the album. Although most songs are steeped in melancholy and heartbreak, notably Blood Red River, there are also joyful moments like Love Like Laughter (with its Dylanesque sound) and Feel To Believe, on which Orton sounds very much like Joni Mitchell. Although Orton has recorded much less material in the past decade or so, instead focusing on family life with her talented husband, folk musician Sam Amidon, and their two children, she did make a welcome return to form with 2012's Sugaring Season. I went to see her play live at Norwich Arts Centre with my wife, just after we'd had our second child, and it felt like everything had come full circle.
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