Comfort Of Strangers
- Beth Orton
- Band Name: Beth Orton
- Record Label: Astralwerks
- Release Date: Feb 7, 2006
- Critic Score
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At 14 tracks long, Orton could have trimmed three or four cuts and left a near-flawless, efficient package that was all killer and no filler. As it stands, it is merely excellent.
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As artlessly lovely as a spring day, this is some of her simplest work, and simply some of her best, too.
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Orton's determination to dig deeper into song and vocal expression instead of toying with a stylistic bauble has paid off in her best album since her debut. [7 Feb 2006]
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Orton's most naked, traditional-sounding CD. [10 Feb 2006, p.132]
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83Unerringly lovely, but best when the drums heat up. [Feb 2006, p.87]
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Comfort of Strangers isn’t only Orton’s best album to date, it’s her most daring.
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80What Orton has sacrificed in terms of post-clubbing appeal she has replaced with grit and poignancy seldom heard since the LA canyons were in their pomp. [Mar 2006, p.96]
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80Without altering her style drastically, Orton has broadened her approach on what is her most accomplished record to date. [Mar 2006, p.94]
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It's a much warmer album than her most recent album, 2002's Daybreaker, and it's perhaps her most complete album yet.
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Orton's assured hand throughout marks Comfort Of Strangers as a sturdy piece of songwriting that will stand among the more memorable albums of 2006 come year's end.
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80While Orton has a tendency to mimic her own melodies, she explores jazz structures here in engaging, exciting ways, and the indigent heartland iconography of her lyrics is beautiful without being cloying.
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Comfort of Strangers is a more confident record than 2002’s Daybreaker, exhibiting an economy of craft and unvarnished execution that might glide by less attentive ears but rewards the keen consumer with a warmth and depth worthy of the artist who created Central Reservation.
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80The songs are subtle and powerful, full of pain and humor.
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Comfort Of Strangers is the best thing Orton has recorded since her debut.
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80Both her most musically spare and artistically complex [album] to date.
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80Back to basics and back on form.
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It's intimate, home, and it's never felt more comfortable.
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Even as it examines the low-lows, Comfort won't be bogged down in them.
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72Far from perfect-- at times even dull-- these songs balance their heavy despair with genuine, if hesitant, hope.
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By far her most traditionally "folky" [album]. [#12, p.92]
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70It's Emiliana Torrini, Cat Power and Nick Drake all rolled into one, and it's soothing enough to curl up and die for.
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70A perfectly pleasant and unoffending offering. [Mar 2006, p.116]
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70Engaging stuff. [Apr 2006, p.118]
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Orton sounds more focused than ever, channeling drawled heartache, warm come-ons and snatches of lost AM-radio hits into songs that seek out your inner lullaby.
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70The record was recorded in two weeks, and many songs sound as if they are first takes, with cracks and stumbles preserved.
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70A lovely set of pop-flavored neo-folk. [11 Feb 2006]
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67The music on Comfort of Strangers is at times so complex and distracting that it often overshadows Orton's winsome voice.
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Maybe Beth Orton, unlike some of her still-desperate-for-kudos contemporaries, is merely growing old gracefully, but clearly gracefully aging doesn't necessarily make for great records.
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60It just sounds like she cannot be roused to feel very passionate about anything.
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It's sweet, comforting music with a nice warmth to it. Not too political, nothing too clever. Not as good as Trailer Park, but her best thing since.
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60Orton still oversteps the foul line that separates affectingly vulnerable from irritatingly feeble, but this is a step twards something more distinctive. [Mar 2006, p.114]
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60As an album, Comfort of Strangers comes across as a missed opportunity. For the most part the album sounds fantastic, and you really want the songs to hit the spot more than they do.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 16 out of 22
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Mixed: 3 out of 22
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Negative: 3 out of 22
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[Anonymous]9
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susie6
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ta10one of the best records of the year. beth is the most sexy musician