Kidsticks
The folktronica icon once more muddies her guitars with gauzy beats. After latterly charting a traditional folk-rock course, *Kidsticks* represents a sharp—and welcome—sonic left-turn. Or rather a sonic reverse. Aided by some taut production from Fuck Buttons’ Andrew Hung, this is Orton darting down new-but-neighbouring electronic avenues to the ones she conquered in the ‘90s. The textures she builds are mesmeric (see: the restless “Moon” and “Dawnstar”) and there’s a delicacy to her work (synth ballad “1973” and the pastoral “Corduroy Legs”) that’s genuinely refreshing.
Written and produced in Los Angeles with Andrew Hung of Fuck Buttons, Beth Orton's latest is anxious, playful, and sounds little like anything the singer/songwriter has done before.
After recording 2012’s folk-leaning Sugaring Season live in the studio with a full band, Beth Orton made a 180-degree creative pivot for her sixth solo album, Kidsticks. Instead of turning to acoustic guitar, the U.K. singer-songwriter first hunkered down in a garage and crafted keyboard loops with co-producer/Fuck…
Throughout her seventh album, Beth Orton’s soothing, airy vocals continuously elevate the songs to a special terrain, with themes of place, purpose and the strength found in both solitude and family giving the songs a meditative warmth and hypnotic…
When Beth Orton released Sugaring Season in 2012, she had moved as far as possible from her "folktronica" origins.
Frenetic drumbeats with flickering guitars and synths power a blistering return from Beth Orton, on her finest form since her Trailer Park days.
Beth Orton is the best. After studying guitar under the late great Bert Jansch and making the stunning alt-folk record Sugaring Season (2012...
To those who've ignorantly discarded her as a one-season wonder on the back of 1996's (still excellent) Trailer Park, whisper it quietly: Beth Orton has been continuing to deliver work of significant quality over the past 20 years.
With 2012’s ‘Sugaring Season’, Beth Orton seemed to have found a folk niche in which to settle, having toyed with stopping altogether.
Most of the songs on the album are quick and fun, with bright hooks and buoyant keyboards.
Restless experimentalist creates sublimely novel electro-acoustic blend. CD review by Matthew Wright