Description
The British singer/songwriter has never really been beholden to a specific scene or musical space, her music weaving in and out of big beat electronica and buzzing psychedelia, baroque English folk rock and warmly atmospheric downtempo. Prior to the release of her 1996 debut Trailer Park, Orton collaborated with The Chemical Brothers, her other collaborators include William Orbit. But Orton’s signature sound is simply that of her own voice, a versatile instrument that conveys both comforting warmth and vast emotional depths alike, seasoned and carrying a certain gravitas – a sort of world-weariness and wisdom earned from an atypical and adventurous life.
It’s Orton’s own voice, literally and figuratively, that drives her seventh album, Weather Alive, and the end of a six-year gap between records. The first album where she’s credited as lead producer, Weather Alive stitches together the disparate yet complementary creative impulses that have driven her career thus far, yet given new avenues through which to explore and run wild, with some additional instrumental flourishes provided by collaborating musicians. It’s a richly detailed and beautifully liberating listening experience.
