Amazon.co.uk Review
Having collaborated with such dance acts as
Red Snapper and the
Chemical Brothers, singer-songwriter Beth Orton is sometimes regarded as a young folky hitching a ride on the electronica bandwagon. On
Trailer Park, however, she harks back to a lost Seventies tradition whose exponents included
Traffic,
Tim Buckley and especially
John Martyn, all of whom worked in a hazy interface between jazz, blues and folk. Fleshed out with multiple layers of vibes, strings and keyboards,
Trailer Park is at once a soul-searching and sensual album, with Orton's flat-edged and indistinct lyrics often seeming to melt in her own mouth. Only "Sweetest Decline", featuring
Dr John on keyboards seems slightly twee. Otherwise on the likes of "Couldn't Cause Me Harm" and "Feel To Believe", the pleasures and pains of love are conveyed so tangibly it almost hurts. --
David Stubbs
CD Description
TRAILER PARK, the debut album by British songstress Beth Orton, is a swirling voyage that soars beyond the sonic limitations that are the Achilles heel of singer/songwriters. Recorded with producer Victor Van Vugt (Nick Cave, Tindersticks), TRAILER PARK's lush, sinewy string arrangements, imaginative sound effects, and tasteful accompaniment contribute a complexity that lifts, rather than smothers, the stark, up-front vocals and breezy, melodic guitar playing. Somehow, the busier things get, the more room she seems to have.
Orton's lyrics are just introspective and plaintive enough--she neither pleads nor lectures. Overall her message is wistful beyond her years, and sad without being self-indulgent. Smart and skilled, but also honest and strong, she possesses a modern edge that pushes her out of the folk-singer mold and into the realm of inventive, innovative pop music.