Central Reservation
Beth OrtonAt the expense of noodling, this album is exceptional, especially considering I've never heard of the artist let alone the album. Throughout the album we get a series of emotionally charged tracks with generally gentle and simple arrangements. Orton's voice is gentle and breezy, but on occasion tastes metallic due to the heaviness and tumultuousness of some of the lyrics. Examples would include some of the last few songs on the album, which are in spite of being on an album with no bad songs, probably my favourite part of the record. The album is generally described as a ''folktronica'' work, but I really didn't see a lot of that. With the exception of a few songs like Stars All Seem To Weep and the last track of the album, which is basically the title track remixed. The overarching genre here is folk and to an extent alternative folk. Most songs on the release are longer than 5 minutes, but they all just seem to breeze by since another one the album's major features is its sheer diversity in scope and structure of the songs at hand. You never feel like a song has been rehashed (last track aside) or repeated. The arrangements are always simple but more is less here. Undeniably one of the most underrated singer/songwriter albums of the 90s. In a world of musicians and singers like Alanis Morissette, Fiona Apple, Sinead O'Connor, Tori Amos and PJ Harvey, this gem seemed to have slipped under the radar. Let's change that. 10/10