Singer song writer Beth Orton will be touring the UK this September/October and is coming to Manchester Cathedral.
When musicians talk about getting back to their roots, it’s usually an excuse to pull out a battered old acoustic to create some bare bones music. In Beth Orton’s case, going back to her roots meant something very different.
Having relocated to California a couple of years ago, Beth began experimenting with a series of electronic loops that would eventually come together as her career-redefining new album; a record inspired both by the wide-open nature of Los Angeles and the spirit of Beth’s earliest recordings (electronic work with producers like William Orbit, Andrew Weatherall and Kieran Hebden as well as groove-based music with Red Snapper).
Kidsticks repositions Beth’s unmistakable voice inside ten pure, audacious, playful and kinetic songs. A resolutely focused album, it represents a rare chance to hear an established artist get plugged in and completely rework the songwriting process with wide-eyed, open-minded glee.
Kidsticks was co-produced by Beth and Andrew Hung from F*ck Buttons. It was recorded with various musician friends of Beth’s in California (including George Lewis Jr. from Twin Shadow on electric guitars, Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor on backing vocals and bass guitar and Dustin O’Halloran from A Winged Victory for the Sullen who provided piano and string arrangements). Vocals were recorded by Alain Johannes (Queens of the Stone Age/Mark Lanagan Band) and mixed by David Wrench (Caribou/Hot Chip).
Beth Orton has been one of the most unique and beguiling voices in music for the past two decades. Her debut LP – Trailer Park – pioneered a synthesis of electronic and acoustic songs to huge acclaim. The follow up – Central Reservation – brought international success and the Brit Award for best British female. Further albums like the Jim O’Rourke produced Comfort of Strangers and 2012’s Sugaring Season deepened the breadth of her craft (Sugaring Season was described by Pitchfork as “ten songs of sweet resilience delivered by a voice of seemingly effortless expression”).
