Beth Orton - Central Reservation

On her stunning sophomore album, Central Reservation, Beth Orton slips free of the electronic textures that colored her acclaimed 1996 debut, Trailer Park, stripping her music down to its raw essentials to produce a work of stark simplicity and rare poignancy. With the exception of a pair of Ben Watt-produced tracks ("Stars All Seem to Weep" and a remix of the title cut), Central Reservation rejects synthetic sounds and beats altogether in favor of an organic atmosphere somewhere between folk, jazz, and the blues; the focal point is instead Orton's evocatively soulful voice, which invests songs like "Sweetest Decline" and "Feel to Believe" with remarkable warmth and honesty. It's a risky move creatively as well as commercially -- after all, the club culture was the first to champion Orton's talents -- but it pays off handsomely; for all its brilliance, elements of Trailer Park already feel dated, but the new material possesses a timelessness that recalls the best of Nick Drake or Sandy Denny, with a haunting beauty to match. And while much has been made of the melancholy that pervades her music, ultimately Central Reservation is first and foremost a record about hope and survival; its emotional centerpiece, the seven-minute "Pass in Time" (a spine-tingling duet with legendary folk-jazz mystic Terry Callier), grapples with the death of Orton's mother, but its underlying message of healing and perseverance is powerfully life-affirming -- her music hasn't merely discovered the light at the end of the tunnel, it's now bathing in it. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

Name Credits Ali Friend Bass Andy Bradfield Mixing Andy Waterworth Double Bass Becca Ware Viola Beki Doe Violin, Mixing Ben Harper Guitar (Electric) Ben Watt Producer, Engineer, Noise, Programming, Guitar, Keyboards, Mixing Beth Orton Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar, Producer, Vocals Calina de la Mare Violin David Friedman Vibraphone David Roback Mixing, Producer Dick Meaney Engineer Dr. John Piano Dr. Robert Guitar, Mixing, Producer Giles Hall Engineer Henry Olsen Bass Howard Gott Violin John Wood Engineer Lascelles Gordon Percussion Lucy Wilkins Violin Mark "Spike" Stent Producer Oliver Kraus Mixing, Cello Paul Walton Mixing Assistant Peter Hill Assistant Engineer Ruth Gottlieb Violin Sam Harris Photography Sara Wilson Cello Sean Read Keyboards, Piano Ted Barnes Bouzouki, Slide Guitar, Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic) Terry Callier Vocals (Background) Tim Young Mastering Trevor Smith Engineer Victor Van Vugt Producer, Engineer Will Blanchard Drums