Info
Q&A: Beth Orton's fresh start
British singer talks about meeting acclaimed producer Jim O'Rourke and taking a back-to-basics approach on her new album, Comfort of Strangers.
The "comedown queen" has landed.
UK singer Beth Orton, long affiliated with the sort of folksy downtempo music that would ease the party crowd into the early hours of the morning, has eschewed electronics and overdubs on her latest album, Comfort of Strangers. Instead, Orton has taken a minimalist approach, working with acclaimed producer Jim O'Rourke on a set of spare tunes.
Beth Orton
The result has been widely praised by critics, as Orton has gotten to show off more of her songwriting and, most importantly, her voice. The artist formerly known as the "comedown queen" recently sat down with MP3.com during her US tour in support of Comfort of Strangers.
Beth Orton: Hello, how are you?
MP3.com: Just fine, Beth, thank you. Are you on the road right now?
BO: I am. We're in Boise, Idaho.
MP3.com: How has this part of the tour been so far?
BO: It's been really great actually.
MP3.com: Nice to hear. So we just wanted to talk about the new record. Why was it time for you to strip down your sound a little bit?
BO: I suppose this record is more about the songs. And I suppose it was just time to hear those little fellows. I suppose, and also that side of things has always run through everything. It's just using technology differently this time, more analog and less digital and, yeah, more about the songs.
MP3.com: And I think I heard you say something to the effect of that after making your last record, you didn't really want to make music like that again, in terms of all the overdubs and that kind of thing. Why?
BO: I mean, you never know. But mostly because it's time to move on. I just see it as a natural progression.
MP3.com: I see.
BO: Which might be me being pedantic, but it's more of that than a huge shift of gears.
MP3.com: I see. It's just a progression of things. OK. And how long was the period that you were writing these songs?
BO: It was over a four-year period. Bits and bobs, some of them were written months before I went in the studio. One of them was written the day that I went in. You know, it's different.
MP3.com: Right. What was the process like? Did you set aside time to write during the course of the day or was it a pretty natural thing?
BO: Yeah, I did do a bit of that, setting the time aside. And I also would just kind of go with it when it's there. It's like a hunger or a thirst. You either feed it or you don't. You don't eat when you're not hungry. I don't write songs when I'm not feeling them. But, yeah, it just seems to come very naturally. I don't force it. But, then again, I was quite diligent, as well, in terms of just once an idea was there, following it through, sitting with it, and taking it to its conclusion.
MP3.com: Did you know Jim O'Rourke before you worked with him on this record?
BO: No, I didn't. We'd met 10 years previously very briefly. But, yeah, we met up and just got on really well and this record was born.
MP3.com: And did you get that realization that he was the right man for the job right away? Or was it over a period of time that you guys got together and slowly realized that he would be the perfect person to produce this record?
BO: Basically I heard [O'Rourke's] Halfway to a Threeway (EP) and I thought it was just one of the most sonically beautiful records I'd heard in a long time. I loved the warmth and the depth of the sound. I loved his guitar. I loved the way each instrument was spaced, and I wanted to ask him if he'd be interested in playing some guitar, maybe even doing some mixing. You never know. But I just sat with him and I played him four songs, and by the end of this hour-long or two-hour-long meeting, he said he would like to produce the record.
Orton's
Comfort of Strangers
MP3.com: And, obviously, you're more than happy with the result. I mean, the results kind of speak for themselves.
BO: Yeah. Exactly.
MP3.com: Do you think you'd work with him again? I mean do you feel like he brought out the best of you?
BO: Yeah, I would. I'd love to work with him again. Yeah.
MP3.com: So you've been through this cycle a number of times now: the writing and the recording and the promoting and the performing live and all that stuff. Which part of it all do you enjoy the most?
BO: I think my most beloved part is, essentially, the bit where a new song [comes]. Where I sit down and a new song just, kind of, appears out of nowhere. I can tell you that that is the most connected, sort of joyful, I don't know, [putting the words] to the right feelings anyways, really. It is really just wonderful.
MP3.com: And is there a part that you like least or do you actually not mind all of it?
BO: As jobs go it's a pretty good job. [Chuckles] But there's some parts of it that are more like a job than other parts. But then even having, just that touring is like a holiday. I mean it's a working holiday. But it's kind of wonderful. I like when you have a brilliant band to tour with. I mean I've always felt like the bands that I've toured with have always been great fun. That's been good. And I suppose recording can be a pain in the ass but, then again, this record was just wonderful. I really like recording fast and furious.
MP3.com: And it was only a two- or three-week period that you recorded this, right?
BO: Two weeks.
MP3.com: Yeah. So, that's about as painless as it gets.
BO: Yeah.
MP3.com: OK. Last question, a bit less focused on the new record. What are you listening to these days--what's in your heavy rotation on the tour bus?
BO: I've got my shuffle on all the time. Fleetwood Mac. Jimmy Scott. Leonard Cohen. That kind of thing. All sorts of stuff.
MP3.com: An interesting batch. Well, we very much appreciate the time--I know you have a show to play tonight. Good luck with the rest of the tour.
BO: Thank you. Bye!
Just added
