Comfort of Strangers (CD - 2006)

Personnel: Beth Orton (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, harmonica, piano, percussion, background vocals); Beth Orton; Jim O'Rourke (guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, Fender Rhodes piano, organ, marimba, percussion, background vocals); Rob Burger (slide guitar, accordion, piano, organ); Karen Wultrich (violin, viola); Okkyung Lee (cello); Tim Barnes (drums, percussion); TJ Doherty, Tim B..

Illustrator: Beth Orton.

Photographer: Ellen Nolan.

Ten years down the road from her big-splash debut TRAILER PARK, the woman who brought a Sandy Denny-like folk-rock sensibility to electronica scales things down considerably. While the preceding DAYBREAKER had already found the British songstress moving closer to the acoustic side of the sonic divide, COMFORT OF STRANGERS makes Orton's sound homier by seemingly abandoning all ambitions for Dido-like waif-pop success in favor of intimate, personal observations. In the end, Orton's a confessional singer/songwriter of the old school, though the pounding piano and left-of-center lyrics of opening tune "Worms" sound closer to Fiona Apple than to Joni Mitchell. Orton's warm-but-reedy voice floats gorgeously through the gentle tunes, ultimately lending her songs more personality than anything since she released since her vaunted breakout. minimize