Beth Orton performed last night (20/04/06) at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney. She came on with a great, smooth, slow version of Absinthe, a track from her new album, Comfort Of Strangers, and it was all uphill from there.

Comfort Of Strangers is an odd sounding album. It sounds like Jim O’Rourke’s solo stuff, there’s a hypnotic steaduness, or maybe it’s just mastered badly. Butlive, the new songs pumped with energy.

I kept thinking the bassplayer looked familiar and it finally hit me a few songs in – it was Leroy Bach, formerly of Wilco.

The title track of her new album was a definite highlight. Classics like Stolen Car and Somebody’s Daughter still sounded sweet. And she was still a gorgeous human being in all senses.

SITE: Beth Orton – official site
SITE: Beth Orton @ Astralwerks

MP3: Beth Orton – Couldn’t Cause Me Any Harm
– From the album Central Reservations (Heavenly, 1999)

MP3: Beth Orton – Heartland Truckstop
– From the album Comfort of Strangers (Astralwerks, 2006)

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