Beth Orton
Daybreaker
On Sale Now
For $13.75

Beth Orton’s third full-length record is a self-assured, alternately majestic and intimate collection that reflects both her background in electronica and the influence of acoustic, English folk music. If say Bjork, Joni Mitchell and Sandy Denny got together to record an album, it might sound something like Daybreaker.

Orton’s electronica side is represented by production and mixing work from the likes of William Orbit, the Chemical Brothers and Everything But the Girl’s Ben Watt. The folk-y side is represented by guests Emmylou Harris and Ryan Adams.

Opener “Paris Train” sets the mood nicely and Orton ascends and descends the notes with charismatic grace as she transports the listener: “Now you’re sitting on a Paris train / Laughing at your own jokes again.” Despite a string section and loads of keyboard programming, the song is truly a vocal tour de force. Her fragile British accent shivers and cracks with charm and emotion.

Next up is “Concrete Sky” which was co-written with ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr. Adams guests on vocals and guitar. It’s the record’s most obvious pop song (and consequently its first single) with a nifty piano hook. Adams also wrote “This One’s Gonna Bruise,” a very pretty, sorrowful number featuring acoustic guitar and cello. “Do you even know what's going on in a heart anymore? / Constellations turned into little Polaroids in a cardboard box,” Orton sings.

The keyboard-heavy “Mount Washington” drifts for a little too long, although pleasantly, and suffers from a lack of a strong melody. Still, her warmly optimistic lyrics hit the mark: “May there never be a time that I don't love you / May there never be a time that you don't pull through / Be a star, be an altar and they will hang it on you.”

Much better though is the Sade-like, Brazilian brass-tinged “Anywhere” with a vocal from Orton that manages to sound both casually detached and utterly committed to the song’s compassionate outlook: “And I'd do anything to see you smile again / But I'd go anywhere so as not to feel your pain.”

The title track is another keyboard-heavy, trip-hoppy club groove that also works in a cello solo from Adam Peters. Ryan Adams returns to contribute guitar, slide guitar and bass to the luminous and shimmering “Carmella,” which also features Ben Watt on piano and veteran session pro Jim Keltner on drums. There’s a distinct Joni Mitchell quality to Orton’s breathy, high vocals here set against pretty acoustic guitars.

Adams and Emmylou Harris contribute vocals to the powerful, acoustic-based “God Song.” “My house was built for loving not a theatre of war / I take the poison for the cure,” Orton sings.

“Thinking About Tomorrow,” one of the record’s best tracks, wraps things up in fine fashion with Orton expressing a resigned, languid sorrow. Despite the fact that 27 people are credited with playing on the track, including a string section, it’s remarkably simple and subtle.

Orton is capable of using her imperfect but uniquely haunting warble to humanize the chilly and detached sounds that often color electronic music. But while a certain spacious, forlorn atmosphere pervades Daybreaker, this is her warmest, most singer-songwriter friendly album yet. The overall effect is entrancing, deeply personal and compelling.

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