Beth Orton
Central Reservation
Label: Arista
Genre: Alternative
File Under: Songs of the siren
Rating: 85
After lending her vocal hypnotism to the likes of
William Orbit, Red Snapper, and the Chemical
Brothers, Beth Orton took the public by storm
via her 1996 album Trailer Park, which expertly
mixed elements of folk, rustic pop, and hip-hop
beats into a tranquilizing melange. Orton
continues the winning streak with Central
Reservation, an album brimming with mature
compositions that judiciously mine the forgotten
folk aesthetic with richly textured aplomb.
The album seems custom-made for slowed
heartbeats. "Stolen Car" sucks you into the mix
thanks to Orton's haunting vibrato and the
uplifting, albeit mystical, musical composition:
skittering fiddle, weird underlying ambient tinges,
trickling bits of acoustic guitar. Orton's words
take on the air of a lackadaisical siren on the
mesmerizingly sparse "So Much More," pulling
you into her world solely with her rapturous
voice. The title track is stripped down to nothing
more than faltering guitar, piano, and light
orchestral accompaniment, while Orton's voice
seemingly rises into the heavens. Both "Blood
Red River" and "Devil's Song" return to the folk
aesthetic, allowing Orton's mournful alto to spin
its seductive web.
The album's most upbeat and disarming
composition comes in the form of "Stars All
Seem to Weep," which instills a throbbing
hip-hop groove underneath the acoustic guitar
and Orton's organic voice. She even brings a
little cocktail beat attitude to the forefront in the
warm, swaying "Couldn't Cause Me Harm."
Considerably more stripped-down than Trailer
Park, Central Reservation gently forces the
listener to focus on Orton's vocal talents. And
with good reason. Orton possesses one of those
rare voices that could melt steel, its warm,
luxurious timbre bringing joyous tears to the
eyes and a bittersweet smile to the lips in the
process. This is, by and large, a disc filled with
quiet passion and beguiling intensity, the perfect
sonic accompaniment to rainy days, lazy
Sunday mornings, and those wavering interludes
of late night contemplation.
--
gender is just an excuse, relationship shouldn't just be an excuse,
love is often an excuse, although sometimes these excuses are all
we have to hold onto,
death is the reason and living is the celebration
- Beth Orton
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.twbbs.org)
◆ From: h183.s99.ts.hin