Singer Beth Orton was born in Norwich in 1970. She started her career as a session singer, singing for dance acts such as Red Snapper, The Chemical Brothers and the William Orbit project Spill. Her two solo albums Trailer Park (1997) and Central Reservation (1999), however, were modern-sounding folk albums with only slight dance influences. Since then Beth Orton has become an established name in
… the singer / songwriter world. The combination of modern musical arrangements with her beautiful, melancholic voice left almost no one untouched. Her third CD Daybreaker once again features some goosebumps moments. There are lovely guest appearances from Emmylou Harris, Ben Watt (Everything But The Girl), William Orbit, The Chemical Brothers, guitarist Johnny Marr (on the wonderful single Concrete Sky) and Ryan Adams (his CD Heartbreaker was even the direct source of inspiration for Daybreaker). The production was in the hands of Victor van Vugt (including Nick Cave). It is actually impossible to get an outlier from so many strong songs. Still, I would like to declare God Song and the six-minute long Mount Washington as my personal favorites on this fantastic album. (MvP)more
