Beth Orton - Sugaring Season (31/10/2012)
From the heaving, brooding intensity of stringed instruments on Candles, to gentle acoustic portraits Dawn Chorus and Call Me The Breeze, Beth Orton's intelligent songwriting shines as brightly as ever on Sugaring Season.
An immediate highlight is Something More Beautiful, co-written with Matthew Ward. A piano-trimmed blues ballad with nothing to prove that displays a mature acceptance from the introspective singer-songwriter.
Delicately exploring the often ugly territory of emotional pain and turmoil, Orton articulates that she has “learned to turn/ What could be sorrow/ Into some kind of mercy”. This poet has grown through hurt, and it does sound beautiful indeed.
The vintage waltz of See Through Blue is a welcome and bright, albeit brief respite from the often shadowy corners of alt-folk storytelling.
This album is Beth Orton grown-up. Sexy guitar solos, sophisticated folk vignettes, a newly confident swagger and elegant vocals decorate Sugaring Season. Gone are signs of an awkward recluse or insecure young adult, such as those we heard on Trailer Park and the like.
The spacious and sprawling Mystery concludes the album with graceful gaelic tones that will bring goosebumps to the warmest of bodies. A broken and fragile violin refrain will turn your stomach, as you're encouraged to “rest your bones/ You look awful tired”.
Beth Orton has returned, six years on from the Comfort of Strangers LP, with a triumphant sense of calm and quiet accomplishment.
Rebecca McCann
An immediate highlight is Something More Beautiful, co-written with Matthew Ward. A piano-trimmed blues ballad with nothing to prove that displays a mature acceptance from the introspective singer-songwriter.
Delicately exploring the often ugly territory of emotional pain and turmoil, Orton articulates that she has “learned to turn/ What could be sorrow/ Into some kind of mercy”. This poet has grown through hurt, and it does sound beautiful indeed.
The vintage waltz of See Through Blue is a welcome and bright, albeit brief respite from the often shadowy corners of alt-folk storytelling.
This album is Beth Orton grown-up. Sexy guitar solos, sophisticated folk vignettes, a newly confident swagger and elegant vocals decorate Sugaring Season. Gone are signs of an awkward recluse or insecure young adult, such as those we heard on Trailer Park and the like.
The spacious and sprawling Mystery concludes the album with graceful gaelic tones that will bring goosebumps to the warmest of bodies. A broken and fragile violin refrain will turn your stomach, as you're encouraged to “rest your bones/ You look awful tired”.
Beth Orton has returned, six years on from the Comfort of Strangers LP, with a triumphant sense of calm and quiet accomplishment.
Rebecca McCann