Stream BETH ORTON’s album in full + UK headline tour news
Beth Orton announces UK headline tour and streams acclaimed new album ‘Kidsticks’
24 Sep Norwich, Waterfront
25 Sep Cambridge, Junction
27 Sep Gateshead, Sage 2
28 Sep Birmingham, O2 Institute 2
29 Sep Bristol, Anson Rooms
01 Oct Oxford, O2 Academy 1
02 Oct Glasgow, Saint Lukes
03 Oct Leeds, Beckett Students’ Union
04 Oct Manchester, Cathedral
06 Oct London, O2 Forum Kentish Town
Tickets available at bethortonofficial.com/tickets from 10am Wednesday
Tickets on general sale from 10am Friday
Beth Orton’s ‘Kidsticks’ released May 27th on ANTI-records
Stream ‘Kidsticks’
“The sound of Beth Orton resurrected” Loud & Quiet (8/10)
“Fabulous variety in voicing and mood. Should melt the sternest opponent’s heart” Mojo
“Orton is absolutely on top of her game” Mixmag (8/10)
“Lean, compelling electronic pop. Her most invigorating songs in years” GQ
“Orton was friends with Bert Jansch, but also knows electronic dance music, and these delightful new songs are nestling, camouflaged, in the sonic landscape between.” The Arts Desk (8 /10)
“Beth Orton ditches the acoustic guitar for this subtly crushing meditation on fast-disappearing years, stitched together from loops and one-fingered keyboard refrains with the help of Fuck Buttons’ Andrew Hung” Uncut (8/10)
“Bubbling percussion, twisted guitar loops and a wall of vocal. She’s never sounded quite so otherworldly” Q
When musicians talk about getting back to their roots, it’s usually an excuse to pull out a battered old acoustic to create some bare bones music. In Beth Orton’s case, going back to her roots meant something very different.
Having relocated to California a couple of years ago, Beth began experimenting with a series of electronic loops that would eventually come together as her career-redefining new album; a record inspired both by the wide-open nature of Los Angeles and the spirit of Beth’s earliest recordings (electronic work with producers like William Orbit, Andrew Weatherall and Kieran Hebden as well as groove-based music with Red Snapper).
Kidsticks repositions Beth’s unmistakable voice inside ten pure, audacious, playful and kinetic songs. A resolutely focused album, it represents a rare chance to hear an established artist get plugged in and completely rework the songwriting process with wide-eyed, open-minded glee.
Kidsticks was co-produced by Beth and Andrew Hung from F*ck Buttons. It was recorded with various musician friends of Beth’s in California (includingGeorge Lewis Jr. from Twin Shadow on electric guitars, Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor on backing vocals and bass guitar and Dustin O’Halloran from A Winged Victory for the Sullen who provided piano and string arrangements). Vocals were recorded by Alain Johannes (Queens of the Stone Age/Mark Lanagan Band) and mixed by David Wrench (Caribou/Hot Chip).
Beth Orton has been one of the most unique and beguiling voices in music for the past two decades. Her debut LP – Trailer Park – pioneered a synthesis of electronic and acoustic songs to huge acclaim. The follow up – Central Reservation – brought international success and the Brit Award for best British female. Further albums like the Jim O’Rourke produced Comfort of Strangers and 2012’s Sugaring Season deepened the breadth of her craft (Sugaring Season was described by Pitchfork as “ten songs of sweet resilience delivered by a voice of seemingly effortless expression”).
Kidsticks was played by: Beth Orton: vocals, synths, keyboards; George Lewis, Jr.: electric guitar; Guillermo E. Brown: drums on “Moon,” “Petals,” “1973,” “Wave,” “Dawnstar” and “Flesh & Blood”; Lucky Paul Taylor: drums and percussion on “Snow,” “Dawnstar,” “Falling,” “Corduroy Legs,” and “Flesh & Blood”; Bram Inscore: bass on “Petals,” “1973,” “Wave,” “Dawnstar,” “Falling” and “Flesh & Blood”; Shahzad Ismaily: bass on “Moon,” bass and Moog on “Flesh and Blood”; Chris Taylor: backing vocals on “Wave” and “Falling,” bass on “Snow”; Dustin O’Halloran: piano on “Corduroy Legs”, string arrangement on “Flesh And Blood,” “Falling” and “Dawnstar”
Beth Orton also plays a series of previously announced festival dates this summer:
May 27th/28th Brighton Festival
May 30th Rough Trade In-store
July 24th Deershed Festival, Topcliffe, North Yorkshire
August 6th Caught by the River Thames Festival, Fulham Place, London
Pre-order ‘Kidsticks’ here
Tracklisting: 1. Snow / 2. Moon / 3. Petals / 4. 1973 / 5. Wave
6. Dawnstar / 7. Falling / 8. Corduroy Legs / 9. Flesh and Blood / 10. Kidsticks