Daybreaker
Like Beth Orton's previous offerings, her third album makes a slight first impression. Sure, the jangly acoustic guitars, drifting melodies, and robust voice are pleasant enough, but it is only after a while that the true potency of the songs becomes apparent. "Nobody can keep you from the one you know you are," she sings quietly on "Mount Washington." Fueled by her mother's early passing, each of Orton's songs is accordingly anchored by a deep sense of sadness and loss. Despite the occasional electronic flourishes at the hands of collaborators such as theChemical BrothersandEverything but the Girl's Ben Watt, and the beaming West Coast harmonies she shares with palRyan Adams,Daybreakeris a supremely personal record. "There's a concrete sky falling from the trees again and I don't know why," she muses on "Concrete Sky." And likeTim BuckleyandNick Drake--the hopeless folk icons that came before her--there seems to be a sublime urgency in her work that suggests a seemingly innocent song like "Thinking About Tomorrow" is not so much about optimism as fate.--Aidin Vaziri