It is incredible to think that a decade has passed since Orton’s breathtaking debut, Trailer Park, and given that folk is the new rock and roll, her time seems to have finally arrived. I’ve seen her a few times over the years and she's certainly has gained some confidence, although her ‘little girl lost’ twittering between songs has become a bit tiresome in a thirtysomething woman. Out on the road to promote new album Comfort of Strangers, she opens with a few songs off that tasteful effort, but makes the fatal mistake of not sticking the odd hit in as the crowd quickly becomes restless. New single Conceived stands out with its typically clever structure and Beth’s unique, often cracked voice bringing the words to life, but it’s a solo acoustic take on the masterful Stolen Car that finally brings her beautiful voice to the fore. Every time Orton dropped the band, letting her voice rip over an acoustic guitar, we saw her talent shine particularly on an awesome and vocally audacious version of She Cries Your Name. But I suspect a fragile flower like Beth needs the security of a well drilled – albeit – boring band behind her. The only time they added anything was on the Joni-esque Feral Children. She closed a patchy set with an unbelievably moving solo take on I Wish I Never Saw the Sunshine, which, even in my slightly inebriated state, brought a lump to the throat. Sure, Beth has her twee coffee table moments and her albums do sound pretty much the same. Sure, she’s an indifferent live performer at times, albeit massively improved these days. But she has a voice that is uniquely moving and no-one ever dissed the likes of Joni Mitchell and Kate Bush for making the same album after album. Truth is, if you have a great voice, why mess with it?
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